Page No.76-84
Arindam Lahiri
Andhra University, Visakhapatnam
Sraddha Kausthub
MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai
Loneliness, perceived social isolation, self-esteem, and evaluation of the self are
important psychological variables. Both are linked to disorders like depression, anxiety,
stress, and even health outcomes. Evolutionary theories suggest that loneliness
developed as a mechanism to prevent social isolation, and self-esteem is influenced
by the need to bond with others. Studies have also shown that age, gender and culture
predict loneliness and that self-esteem has certain gendered patterns. The present
study examines the relationship between loneliness, self-esteem and gender in Indian
adolescents. Three hypotheses were tested in this study — H1: Loneliness will
negatively correlate to self-esteem in boys and girls. H2: There will be a significant
difference in loneliness between girls and boys. H3: There will be a significant difference
in self-esteem between girls and boys. Random sampling was done, and a sample of
N = 544 participants was gathered. The tools used were the Revised UCLA Loneliness
Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A t-test and correlation were performed on
Jamovi, and Hypotheses 1 and 3 were accepted. This leads to speculation about
gendered patterns of coping with low self-esteem or high loneliness, as well as perhaps
higher self-esteem in boys, allowing them to express loneliness without seeing it as a
problem. It could also mean boys believe that being lonely is natural for their age or
their gender. Qualitative studies may better predict the reasons for the gendered patterns.
Future studies should examine the spectrum of genders and also look into the
relationship between self-esteem and loneliness across the lifespan