DOES LONELINESS HAVE NATIONALITY? CULTURAL AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LONELINESS AMONG AMERICAN AND POLISH YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

The current study was intended to determine the possible differences in social and emotional (i.e., family and romantic) loneliness a function of nationality and relationship status. Although the social construction of romantic relationships in Poland and the US has changed over recent years, the Polish culture with its stronger traditionalist value system may still place a higher premium on having a romantic or marital partner compared to the US. The family unit is also a more central and core element of one’s social network in Poland compared to the US. Associations between loneliness and romantic partner status were tested in 431 US and 395 Polish participants (mean age = 22.92) who completed the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults Short Form (SELSA-S; DiTommaso, Brannen, & Best, 2004). The analyses demonstrated that Polish respondents reported higher loneliness than US respondents, Wilks’ λ = 0.89, F(3,769) = 30.78, p <.001 and single individuals reported higher loneliness than partnered individuals, Wilks’ λ = 0.60, F(3,769) = 169.26, p <.001. There were also significant nationality and relationship status interactions in the domain of family loneliness, F(1,771) = 6.47, p < .01, and in the domain of romantic loneliness, F(1,771) = 71.82, p < .001. More specifically, single Polish participants reported higher family loneliness than Polish partnered participants. American participants reported the exact same level of family loneliness, regardless of their relationship status. In turn, the lack of a romantic partner was more strongly associated with increased romantic loneliness for Polish than for American participants. Although all participants reported increased loneliness when they were without a partner, this effect was particularly exaggerated among Polish participants. At the same time, Polish participants seem to benefit more (in terms of decreased romantic loneliness) than Americans do as a function of having a romantic partner.