Revealing loneliness: Disentangling the interaction of gender and community stigma

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study investigates whether the perceived stigma of loneliness is positively associated with the concealment of loneliness and whether this association varies by the gender of the individual and their conversation partner.MethodsUtilizing ordinal probit regression analysis on data from 1671 German survey participants with three‐way interactions, we analyze whether participants are more likely to conceal loneliness based on their perceived stigma of loneliness, their gender, and the gender of fictional, randomly assigned conversation partners.ResultsOur analysis finds that perceived stigma is positively associated with the concealment of loneliness, with this association being stronger among men compared to women. Additionally, while the influence of perceived stigma on concealment is not significant for women in same‐sex interactions, it is significantly stronger for men in same‐sex interactions.ConclusionThe interaction of gender, interviewer characteristics, and perceived stigma should be considered when designing surveys and implementing effective interventions and policies to address and destigmatize loneliness.