Beyond Social Deficits: Personal Agency and Social Connection Shape Loneliness Over Time

This longitudinal study examined how social connections and personal agency influenced loneliness over time. Utilizing four waves of data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, analyses consistently revealed four distinct prototypes within each data wave that reflect combinations of social connection and personal agency. Subsequent analyses showed that one prototype (low agency, low connection) experienced the highest levels of loneliness, while another (high agency, high connection) reported the lowest. The remaining two prototypes exhibited equivalent, intermediate loneliness despite the stark differences in social connection levels between them. Tracking transitions between prototypes across waves revealed that shifts toward less favorable prototypes predicted increased loneliness, whereas transitions toward more favorable prototypes predicted reduced loneliness. These findings significantly enhance our understanding of loneliness, an experience generally thought to be driven by relational deficits, highlighting the crucial role of personal agency.