Social Isolation

Measurement

Researchers who employ behavioral definitions use relational characteristics to define social isolation. For example, one may say that a relation exists between two people if they discuss important matters. Under this definition, a socially isolated individual is someone who has no one with whom they discuss matters that are important to them personally. Similarly, some researchers have defined social isolation as a lack of specific types of relationships—friends (for adolescents), care-givers (for the elderly), or someone who you could ask to watch your children in an emergency (for young parents). In a general population, measures of one type of close tie tend to overlap with others so that the specific question does not matter much. Claude Fischer has pointed out that having just one close connection makes one dependent on that one relationship; he argued that someone with only one tie still has inadequate social support. Therefore, social isolation may not be a qualitative distinction, but a matter of degree. Other researchers refine measures of social isolation by looking at the frequency of contact or the degree to which one's connections are connected to each other in a tight social group.

In contrast to these behavioral definitions, some researchers have measured isolation in terms of perceived isolation. Such definitions capture [Page 1530]whether individuals feel socially isolated. Perceived social isolation is theoretically independent of actual social ties, although the two are correlated.

Finally, some researchers combine perceived and behavioral connection, arguing that individuals are socially isolated only when they lack interaction partners and feel socially isolated. With this view, those who are lonely (high perceived social isolation) but have social ties are not socially isolated (although they may suffer mental distress). Similarly, those who have no social ties but do not feel lonely are not socially isolated. Thus, it is not only the nature or existence of one's relationships that matter, but also one's interpretation of these relationships. In the end, all of these definitions attempt to capture the same thing: whether an individual has operative, sufficient, close social connections to other people.

Characteristics of the Socially Isolated

Socially isolated individuals tend to be older, be unmarried, and have less education than the socially integrated. Those with lower incomes also have a higher chance of being isolated. Thus, a privileged social position is linked to a healthy social environment. Researchers have also found that ethnoracial minorities are more likely to be socially isolated than Whites. There are few gender differences in the likelihood of being socially isolated, although some research suggests that single males may be more socially isolated than single females (because males often depend on a spouse for connection, whereas single females often look to female friends).

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