The type of people for whom loneliness is especially dangerous has been identified

Australian psychologists have found that a person's attachment style significantly affects how they experience loneliness: people with anxious or avoidant attachment types much more frequently perceive time alone as unwanted and forced, and as a result feel social isolation more acutely. The study involving 548 adults was published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (JSPR).

Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby in the mid-20th century, identifies three main styles: secure (a person is comfortable both in closeness and in solitude), anxious (a tendency toward excessive preoccupation with relationships), and avoidant (discomfort with emotional closeness). The style is formed in early childhood under the influence of the nature of interaction with the primary caregiver.

The authors distinguished between two types of solitude experience: voluntary — intentionally chosen for rest, self-discovery, or creativity — and involuntary, perceived as an unwanted absence of social contact. Participants completed a battery of standardized questionnaires: an attachment style scale, a subjective solitude experience questionnaire, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale for assessing chronic loneliness.

Statistical analysis showed that anxious attachment predicts a more severe experience of loneliness. According to the authors, developing the skill of productive solitude — the ability to intentionally and enjoyably spend time without social interaction — may serve as a therapeutic target and reduce chronic feelings of loneliness in people with anxious attachment.

The authors also emphasized the practical significance of the results for working with lonely individuals within the framework of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Sessions aimed at developing skills of mindful and voluntary solitude — the so-called capacity for aloneness — can significantly reduce the chronic feeling of isolation in people with insecure attachment.