Health comparisons and loneliness and perceived social isolation

The objective of this chapter is to present a brief overview and to provide an empirical example of the association between health comparisons and loneliness and perceived social isolation. For the empirical example, we used data from a nationally representative sample of individuals aged 40 years and over (German Ageing Survey, wave 6, n = 5,447 individuals). The assessment of one’s own health compared to others in the age bracket served as the key independent variable. The Bude and Lantermann Scale was used to measure perceived social isolation and the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale was used to assess loneliness. Our example showed that negative health comparisons may be important for loneliness among middle-aged and older men. Moreover, both positive and negative health comparisons are particularly important for perceived social isolation. In light of the restricted knowledge, we stress the relevance of upcoming research in this field.