37
social risk-taking suggest that lonely people may be less assertive in their social interactions.
Social and medical problems
Loneliness has been linked to a variety of problems affecting not only individuals but also our society as a whole. Also of interest are the possible
effects of loneliness on physical health, PeplauPerlman 1982.
2.2.5 Dimensions of loneliness
Underlying these diverse typologies are three major dimensions concerning how, one, the person evaluates his or her social situation, two, the type of
social deficit experienced, and three, the time perspective associated with loneliness.
1. The Evaluative dimension
Philosophers have been often distinguished between positive and negative aspects of solitude and loneliness. Those in the German philosophical
tradition have discussed the differences between positive and negative experiences of “Einsamkeit” those in the German philosophical tradition have
discussed the differences between positive and negative experiences of “Einsamkeit”hose in the German philosophical tradition have discussed the
differences between positive and negative experiences of “Einsamkeit”
38
For example, Kolbol has distinguished four types of “Einsamkeit” :
First, a positive, inner type “splendid isolation”, experienced as a necessary means of discovering new forms of freedom or contact with other people.
Second, a negative, inner type, experienced as an estrangement from oneself and from others, a feeling of alienation, even in the midst of others. Third, a
positive external type, present under circumstances of physical solitude when one searchers for new positive experience. And fourth, a negative, external
type, present when external circumstances death of a partner, loss of contacts lead to very negative feelings of loneliness.
Associated with the evaluative dimensions is a common philosophical distinction Moustakas, 1961 between loneliness as a basic fact of human
existence and loneliness as a psychological reaction to relational deficits.
2. The Nature of the Relational Deficit
As cited in Peplau Perlman 1982 Weis describes his relational deficit typologies in a fundamental distinction way between emotional and social
loneliness:
The loneliness of emotional isolation
Appears in the absence of a close emotional attachment and can only be remedied by the integration of another emotional attachment or the
39
reintegration of the one that had been lost. Those experiencing this form of loneliness are apt to experience a sense of utter aloneness, whether or not
the companionship of others is in fact accessible to them. The individual may describe the immediately available world as desolate, barren or devoid of
others, or the sense of utter aloneness may be phrased in terms of an empty inner world, in which case the individual may say he or she feels empty, dead
or hollow.
The loneliness of social isolation
Is associated with the absence of an engaging social network and this absence can only be remedied by access to such a network. The dominant
symptoms of this form of loneliness are feeling of boredom or aimlessness, together with feeling of marginality.
4. Time perspective
