Term Project Proposal Loneliness and it’s Correlates in University Students by Christy Downie Matthew Webster

Loneliness zIntroduction zMethod yParticipants yMaterials yProcedure zResults zDiscussion

Loneliness zMcWhirter (1997) reports that as many as 30 percent of college students report experiencing loneliness as a problem (6 percent experience it as a major problem) during their college years. zLoneliness has been linked to physical illness, mental health problems, alcoholism, suicide, and depression and therefore it is an important variable to identify(Bruch, Kaflowits, & Pearl, 1988)

Examination of Loneliness zThe present study examines loneliness and its relationships with variables including self-esteem, gender, grade-point average, self-consciousness, and social anxiety. zSocial desirability was also examined.

Review of the Literature zInerbitzen-Pisaruk, Clark, and Solano (1992) found a significant relationship between loneliness and the following correlates: self- esteem, self-consciousness, and social anxiety. z Loucks (1980) discovered a reciprocal relationship to exist between self-esteem and loneliness, where low self-esteem was associated with elevated feelings of loneliness.

Review of the Literature zClemson (1983) found loneliness to be positively correlated with self- consciousness and social anxiety. zBooth (1983) discovered that loneliness correlated negatively with GPA.

Gender Differences zElmet and Dkkard (1987) found no gender differences in self reported symptoms of loneliness. zMcWhirter (1996) reported that gender did influence amounts of loneliness across men and women, but the relationship between self-esteem and loneliness was similar for both men and women.

Experimental Hypothesis zLoneliness will be negatively correlated with levels of self-esteem and self- consciousness and positively correlated with levels of social avoidance. zLevels of self-esteem will be negatively correlated with self-consciousness and social avoidance.

Experimental Hypothesis zThere will be no significant relationship between GPA and any of the other variables. zGender differences may exist between levels of loneliness, with females having lower levels of loneliness. zSelf-esteem and social anxiety will predict loneliness the strongest out of the variables under examination.

Participants z Volunteers in the library y20 males y20 females

Methods z How did the researchers measure loneliness, self- esteem, social desirability, social anxiety, and self- consciousness?

Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale z The RULS has found to be highly reliable (alpha=.94) with excellent internal consistency z The RULS has good concurrent validity, correlating with a number of mood and personality measures and especially with a self- labelling loneliness index (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984).

Index of Self-Esteem zThe ISE has a mean alpha of.93, indicating excellent internal consistency. zThe ISE also has excellent stability with a two-hour test-retest correlation of.92 (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984).

The Self-Conscious Scale zThe SCS has fairly good internal consistency and also demonstrates good stability (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984). zFurthermore, the SCS demonstrates good concurrent validity with the original self- consciousness scale in which it was modelled after (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984).

Social Avoidance and Distress Scale zThe Social Avoidance and Distress Scale has an average internal consistency of.77 (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984) zTest-retest reliability for a one-month period was.68 using a sample of 154 college students enrolled in summer school (Corcoran & Fisher, 1984).

The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale zThe Social Desirability Scale, written by Crowne and Marlow, consists of 33 items measured on a True or False scale. zThe scale has an internal consistency of.88 (Crowne & Marlow). Test-retest reliability was.89 and was computed for 39 subjects enrolled in an undergraduate abnormal psychology class at Ohio-State University (Crowne & Marlow).

Procedure zInform participants about questionnaires zAsk participants to fill out questionnaires zDebrief participants zResults

Results zCorrelation Matrix zt-tests examining gender differences zstepwise multiple regression examining predictors of loneliness

Relating our Results to Prior Literature  Loucks (1980) discovered a reciprocal relationship to exist between self-esteem and loneliness, where low self-esteem was associated with elevated feelings of loneliness. Loneliness was correlated positively with social anxiety.  Booth (1983) determined that females' and males' levels of loneliness correlated negatively with GPA.

Relating our Results to Prior Literature  A study done by Clemson (1983) found loneliness to be positively correlated with self- consciousness in year old high school students.  Brush, Kaflowitz, and Pearl (1988) did not find a relationship between loneliness and self- consciousness in university students.

T-test zMales reported lower levels of loneliness (M=30.7 SD=9.4) compared to females (M=9.66 SD=1.68), t(28)=-2.25, p<.05.  Stokes and Levin (1986) determined their were gender differences in the amounts of loneliness reported by undergraduate students

Step-Wise Multiple Regression zSelf-esteem was the only significant predictor found, accounting for 46.6% of the variance in loneliness.

Improvements for future research….. zLook more closely at why gender differences exist in levels of loneliness zAnalyze data separately (male and female) instead of in a group. zDiversify the population under study.

Thank you very much! z By Christy and Matt z The End