ABSTRACT
Inspired by Durkheim’s notion of “national disposition” in Suicide and analysing the data collected from the European Social Survey and other sources, this chapter conducts a quantitative macro-comparative study on the prevalence of loneliness as the national dispositions towards loneliness across 33 European countries. It explores a number of country-level factors, including Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture. Gross domestic product per capita, Human Development Index, and four cultural dimensions were found to be strongly associated with the prevalence of loneliness. With some exceptions, the national dispositions towards loneliness are confirmed and found to be increasing from the north to the south and from the west to the east in Europe. The combined effects of economic, human developments and a socially liberal environment have been found responsible for such variations.
