Perceived Loneliness among Rural and Urban Adolescents:A Comparative Study

Loneliness is an unpleasant and distressing, subjective experience that results from deficient social relationships. Loneliness is a common emotion in adolescence and early adulthood. The present study is an attempt to study the difference in perceived loneliness of rural and urban male and female adolescents of Ludhiana district. The study was based on a sample of 300 adolescents equally distributed over gender (150 girls & 150 boys) and locale (150 rural & 150 urban). Loneliness was assessed by using Perceived Loneliness Scale developed by Jha(1971). Results clearly demonstrated that there exists a significant difference in perceived loneliness of male and female adolescents. Female adolescents perceived higher loneliness than male adolescents. Locale wise significant difference also existed. Results showed that rural adolescents experienced more loneliness as compared to urban adolescents.