Loneliness and Psychological Well-Being in Early Adulthood ^†

Abstract

We examined the relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being in early adulthood in Jakarta, Indonesia. Using a quantitative method and the UCLA loneliness scale with 212 participants in early adulthood in Jakarta, Indonesia, we measured psychological well-being and loneliness. Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-Being was also used. A measuring scale was re-formulated in the Indonesian language. Loneliness and psychological well-being were negatively correlated (r = −0.692, p < 0.05). This result can be used to increase psychological well-being in early adulthood and maximize their productivity.

1. Introduction

The transition from the adolescent phase to early adulthood affects individuals in terms of relationships with people. Santrock [1] explained that individuals in the early adult phase tend to sort out their social sphere more as they grow older. In this phase, there is the sixth stage of development, namely, intimacy vs. isolation. Meilia [2] confirmed that early adulthood is critical in life as it is characterized by individuals re-adapting themselves to the environment and social desires. In addition, according to Permana & Astuti [3] the early adult phase is the phase when a person is in a period of displacement in deepening identity, lifestyle, and relationships. In the early adult phase, individuals tend to experience difficulties [1]. One of the difficulties that often occurs in early adulthood is loneliness [1].

A survey result conducted to see the phenomena in January 2023 with 19 individuals consisting of 10 women (52.6%) and 9 men (47.4%) in Jakarta showed that individuals at the age of 19−32 years experienced loneliness in the last 6 months. Ten out of the nineteen individuals had difficulty connecting or interacting with other people. Moreover, 42.1% felt that they did not have anyone to ask for help, and 42.1% felt lonely. This showed that loneliness is felt in all developmental periods including early adulthood [4]. Russell [5] defined loneliness as a subjective feeling caused by not achieving intimacy in a relationship. The situation is tentative due to drastic changes that occur in individual social activities. This was evidenced by 42.1% of the participants in the survey who were in a relationship with another individual or group but still felt lonely. Additionally, 10 out of the 19 participants felt incompatible, anxious, and uncomfortable in their social sphere.

Loneliness is felt when individuals feel useless, not accepted by their environment, and confused [6]. Russell [7] reaffirmed that the lack of meaningful social relationships and support is known as social isolation, which is a prime example of the unintentional onset of the experience of loneliness. Psychological well-being is a multidimensional form of interpretation created from decisions related to things experienced regarding daily routines. This refers to a description of the feelings felt based on experiences in life. Individuals who fulfill the six dimensions of psychological well-being tend to be independent and develop self-skills to manage the social environment, establish good relationships with others, and have a sense of self-acceptance [8]. Individuals with high psychological well-being are satisfied to define happiness in life and avoid mental disorders, especially loneliness [9].

In this study, we identified the relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being in early adults to help early adults improve psychological well-being and minimize loneliness. The hypotheses in this study were proposed as follows.

H0. 

There is no significant relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being among early adults in Jakarta.

H1. 

There is a significant relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being among early adults in Jakarta.

2. Method

2.1. Participants

A total of 212 participants were selected according to predetermined criteria. The demography of the participants is presented in

Table 1. Demography of participants.

Category	Description	Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Female	121	57.1%
	Male	91	42.9%
Age	<20 years	19	9%
	20–25 years	147	69.3%
	26–30 years	38	17.9%
	31–35 years	5	2.4%
	>35 years	3	1.4%
Education	SMA/SMK/Equivalent	98	46.2%
	D1/D2/D3/D4	11	5.2%
	S1	101	47.6%
	S2	2	0.9%
Occupation	Student	100	47.2%
	Private Employee	77	36.3%
	Entrepreneur	13	6.1%
	Civil Servant/TNI/Police	13	6.1%
	Other	9	4.2%
Domicile	West Jakarta	31	14.6%
	Central Jakarta	17	8%
	South Jakarta	116	54.7%
	East Jakarta	23	10.8%
	North Jakarta	16	7.5%
	Thousand Island	9	4.2
Total		212	100%

. The participants were selected using a non-probability sampling method. The female participants consisted of 57.1% and the male participants consisted of 42.9% of the total participants. The participants at the age of 20−25 years were 69.3%. The majority of the participants had a bachelor’s degree (47.6%). The most common type of employment of the participants was students (47.2%). Employees, entrepreneurs, civil servants, and policemen were also included. In addition, the majority of the participants resided in South Jakarta (54.7%).

2.2. Research Design

We used descriptive statistics and analyzed correlation using the data collected through a questionnaire survey. Non-probability sampling was used in this study as it provides equal opportunities for all participants to be included. The non-probability method is convenient, affordable, easy, and fast [10].

2.3. Measuring Instruments

The instrument used to measure loneliness was the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale version 3 [5]. It consists of 20 items: 9 favorable items and 11 unfavorable items. The scale was modified and translated in this study (

Table 2. Loneliness scale.

Aspect	Indicator	Favorable	Unfavorable	Total
Emotional isolation	The lack of achieving an intimate emotional connection and not having emotional clones with others.	2, 3, 4, 7	15, 16	6
	The individual lacks participation within the group.	12, 17, 18	1, 10	5
Social isolation	The individual does not actively involve themselves within the group.	8	5, 6, 19, 20	5
	The individual feels deliberately excluded from the social sphere.	11, 13, 14	9	4
Total		11	9	20

). The scale was used to obtain the data in two dimensions of emotional and social isolation with a validity of >0.40 and reliability at an alpha coefficient value of 0.92. Experts at the Psychology Department of Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia, were invited to validate the scale.

We tested reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. The value was 0.950, which indicated that the survey was reliable. We used a four-point Likert scale: Never = 1, Rarely = 2, Often = 3, Very Often = 4.

Psychological well-being was measured using Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-Being [11]. This scale encompasses six dimensions: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, and purpose in life (

Table 3. Blueprint of psychological well-being scale.

Dimension	Favorable	Unfavorable	Total
Autonomy	1, 7, 25, 37	13, 19, 31	7
Environmental Mastery	2, 20, 38	8, 14, 26, 32	7
Personal Growth	9, 21, 33	3, 15, 27, 39	7
Positive Relations	4, 22, 28, 40	10, 16, 34	7
Purpose in Life	5, 11, 29, 35	17, 23, 41	7
Self-acceptance	6, 12, 24, 42	18, 30, 36	7
Total	22	20	42

). Reliability was calculated per dimension with values for each dimension as follows: 0.85 for self-acceptance, 0.83 for positive relations with others, 0.88 for autonomy, 0.81 for environmental mastery, and 0.82 for purpose in life. The lowest correlated item scored 0.226, while the highest reached 0.802.

3. Result

3.1. Normality Test

We tested normality to test whether the independent and dependent variables were normally distributed [12] using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov method. The asymptotic significance (2-tailed) was 0.060. As it was higher than 0.05, the data were regarded to be normally distributed (

Table 4. Result of one-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test.

Unstandardized Residual
N		212
Normal Parameters	Mean	0.0000000
	Standard deviation	1.874278
Most Extreme Differences	Absolute	0.060
	Positive	0.060
	Negative	−0.060
Test Statistic		0.060
Asymptotic significance		0.060

).

3.2. Correlation

We conducted the correlation analysis as presented in

Table 5. Correlation analysis results.

		Loneliness	Psychological Well-Being
Loneliness	Pearson Correlation	1	−0.692 **
	Sig. (2-tailed)		0.000
	N	212	212
Psychological Well-Being	Pearson Correlation	−0.692 **	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000
	N	212	212

** Correlation is significant at p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

. Loneliness and psychological well-being were negatively correlated (r = −0.692, p <0.05).

4. Discussion and Conclusions

The results of this study indicated a significant relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being in early adults in Jakarta. The higher the level of loneliness, the lower the level of psychological well-being. This coincides with the results of Hapsari and Ratriana [13] and Halim and Dariyo [14]. This correlation in the males and the females was −0.689 and −0.687, respectively. Such coefficients are regarded to be high [15]. Loneliness can occur to anyone regardless of gender [16]. Thus, gender is not a factor affecting the level of loneliness. The coefficient of the participants younger than 20 years old was −0.420. The results of this study provide a reference in clinical psychology and research on loneliness and psychological well-being. It is important to increase psychological well-being so that young adults can maximize their productivity and achieve goals in life. Individuals can improve psychological well-being by accepting themselves, realizing their goals in life, having independence, developing positive relationships, and controlling the environment. Individuals must have a desire to continue to become a better person. By realizing and applying this, individuals can minimize the level of loneliness.

There are limitations, as psychological well-being in each dimension was not analyzed in detail. The selection of the participants was also limited in Jakarta. For further research, it is necessary to analyze loneliness and psychological well-being in each dimension with more participants in various regions.