Personality and Individual Differences, draws on a newly published significant global dataset that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) gathered for their “Loneliness Experiment.”In recent years, loneliness has become a focus of research as the body of evidence demonstrating its effects on both individuals and society continues to grow.
Loneliness negatively affects people’s well-being and the economy, and it increases the likelihood that a person will need medical care.The authors of the present study state that loneliness can be understood as “the discrepancy between actual and desired social relationships.” According to this definition, two people who have the same number of social relationships may experience loneliness.