ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the conceptual introduction to the constructs of loneliness and sexuality, and considers their potentially bidirectional relationship. It discusses attachment theory and mood self-regulation approaches to understanding the relationship of loneliness and sexuality. Attachment theory provides an explanatory framework that ties together the caregiver-infant bond and the attachment expectations and inclinations to which it contributes across the lifespan. Securely attached individuals appear to be less likely to experience loneliness and more likely to express their sexuality within intimate or close relationships. Anxiously/avoidantly attached adults appear to be demanding individuals who sabotage their relationships, experience multiple outcroppings of loneliness, and employ their sexuality in the context of coping with the need for relationship affirmation and the search for love. Mood self-regulation theory is attentive to the possibility, entirely compatible with the attachment theory approach, that individuals will use sexual behavior to cope with negative moods including loneliness.
