Positive loneliness as a means of solving psychological problems in adolescence
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6127-2024-3-100-111
The problem of experiencing loneliness in adolescence is considered, in particular, attention is drawn to its constructive nature. Putting forward their own working definition of the concept of “loneliness”, which refers to a mental state, the authors formulate the idea of the presence of a so-called field of loneliness, which includes zones of fencing and exclusion. The key to the work is the concept of positive loneliness, as one of the types of loneliness associated with a person’s internal work on his own experience, namely with its processing and integration. The purpose of the study was to identify the possibilities of experiencing positive loneliness as a potential means of solving such psychological problems in adolescence, such as problems of self-attitude, searching for the meaning of life and emotional well-being. Based on the results obtained during testing and processed using methods of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, the authors draw conclusions about the characteristics of the experience of loneliness, including positive ones, among high school students, university and college students. The study showed that the experience of positive loneliness can determine the significance or insignificance of certain life meanings and the desirability of various emotional experiences, and this, in turn, can help solve problems of finding the meaning of life and emotional well-being.
Keywords: loneliness, acceptance of loneliness, positive loneliness, constructive nature, solitude, psychological problems, adolescence
References:
1. Freud Z. Vvedeniye v psikhoanaliz. Lektsii [Introduction to psychoanalysis. Lectures]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1991. 456 p. (in Russian).
2. Perlman D. Teoreticheskiye podkhody k odinochestvu [Theoretical approaches to loneliness]. In: Labirinty odinochestva [Labyrinths of loneliness]. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1989. Pp. 152–169 (in Russian).
3. Maslow A. Motivatsiya i lichnost’: perevod s angliyskogo. 3-ye izdaniye [Motivation and personality: trans. from English. 3rd edition]. Saint Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2008. 352 p. (in Russian).
4. Rogers K. K nauke o lichnosti [Towards a science of personality]. Istoriya zarubezhnoy psikhologii. Teksty [History of foreign psychology. Texts]. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo Moskovskogo universiteta Publ., 1986. Pp. 200–230 (in Russian)
5. Starovoytova L. I. Odinochestvo: sotsial’no-filosofskiy analiz. Dis. kand. filos. nauk [Loneliness: social and philosophical analysis. Diss. cand. philos. sci.]. Moscow, 1995. 126 p. (in Russian).
6. Puzanova Zh. V. Antropologiya odinochestva [Anthropology of loneliness]. Sotsial’naya antropologiya na poroge XXI veka [Social anthropology on the threshold of the 21st century]. Moscow, Soyuz Publ., 1998. P. 363–365 (in Russian).
7. Pokrovskiy N. E., Ivanchenko G. V. Universum odinochestva: sotsiologicheskiye i psikhologicheskiye ocherki [Universe of loneliness: sociological and psychological essays]. Moscow, Universitetskaya kniga Publ., Logos Publ., 2008. 192 p. (in Russian).
8. Korchagina S. G. Genezis, vidy i proyavleniya odinochestva [Genesis, types and manifestations of loneliness]. Moscow, Moscow psikhologo-sotsial’nyy institut Publ., 2005. 196 p. (in Russian).
9. Korchagina S. G. Psikhologiya odinochestva: uchebnoye posobiye [Psychology of loneliness: textbook]. Moscow, Moskovskiy psikhologo-sotsial’nyy institut Publ., 2008. 228 p. (in Russian).
10. Shagivaleyeva G. R. Odinochestvo i osobennosti yego perezhivaniya studentami [Loneliness and features of its experience by students]. Yelabuga, Almedia Publ., 2007. 157 p. (in Russian).
11. Labirinty odinochestva. Perevod s angliyskogo [Labyrinths of loneliness. Translation from English]. Sost., obshch. Red. Predisl. N. Ye. Pokrovskogo. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1989. 624 p. (in Russian).
12. Osin E. N., Leontyev D. A. Differentsial’nyy oprosnik perezhivaniya odinochestva: struktura i svoystva [Differential questionnaire for experiencing loneliness: structure and properties]. Psikhologiya. Zhurnal Vysshey shkoly ekonomiki – Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2013, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 55–81 (in Russian).
13. Polyakova I. P., Batrakova T. S., Kopytina M. Yu. Vliyaniye odinochestva na vnutrenniy mir lichnosti i yeyo povsednevnuyu zhizn’ [The influence of loneliness on the inner world of a person and her daily life]. Vestnik Vyatskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarnogo universiteta – Bulletin of the Vyatka State University for the Humanities, 2009, no. 4-4, pp. 35–40 (in Russian).
14. Matsuta V. V. Autokommunikatsiya cheloveka: funktsional’nyy aspekt. Dis. kand. psikhol. nauk [Human autocommunication: functional aspect. Diss. cand. psychol. sci.]. Tomsk, 2010. 181 p. (in Russian).
15. Golovin S. Yu. Slovar’ psikhologa-praktika [Dictionary of a practicing psychologist]. Minsk, Kharvest Publ., 2007. 976 p. (in Russian).
16. Davletchina S. B. Slovar’ po konfliktologii [Dictionary of conflictology]. Ulan-Ude, VSGTU Publ., 2005. 100 p. (in Russian).
17. Tolochek V. A. Sovremennaya psikhologiya truda: uchebnoye posobiye [Modern psychology of work: Textbook]. Saint Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2005. 479 p. (in Russian).
18. Gasanova P. G., Omarova M. K. Psikhologiya odinochestva: uchebno-metodicheskoye posobiye [Psychology of loneliness: educational methodica]. Kiyev, Finansovaya rada Ukrainy Publ., 2017. 76 p. (in Russian)
19. Ishanov S. A., Osin E. A., Kostenko V. Yu. Lichnostnoye razvitiye i kachestvo uyedineniya [Personal development and quality of solitude]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya – Cultural-historical psychology, 2018, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 30–40 (in Russian).
20. Burger J. M. Individual differences in preference for solitude. Journal of Research in Personality, 1995, no. 29 (1), pp. 85–108.
21. Ernst J. M., Cacioppo J. T. Lonely hearts: Psychological perspectives on loneliness. Applied & Preventive Psychology, 1999, no. 8, pp. 1–22.
22. Larson R. W. The solitary side of life: An examination of the time people spend alone from childhood to old age. Developmental Review, 1990, no. 10, pp. 155–183.
23. Long C. R., Seburn M., Averill J. R., More T. A. Solitude experiences: Varieties, settings, and individual differences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2003, pp. 578–583.
24. Russell D. W. UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1996, no. 66, pp. 20–40.
25. Winnicott D. The capacity to be alone. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1958, no. 39, pp. 416–420.
26. Vygotskiy L. S. Sobraniye sochineniy: v 6 tomakh. Tom 4 [Collected works: in 6 volumes. Vol. 4]. Moscow, Pedagogika Publ., 1982–1984. 433 p. (in Russian).
27. Efimkina R. P. Detskaya psikhologiya: metodicheskiye ukazaniya [Child psychology: methodological instructions]. Moscow, Novosibirsk, Nauchno-uchebnyy tsentr psikhologii NSU Publ., 1995. 47 p. (in Russian).
28. Kon I. S. Psikhologiya ranney yunosti: kniga dlya uchitelya [Psychology of early adolescence: a book for teachers]. Moscow, Prosveshcheniye Publ., 1989. 254 p. (in Russian).
29. Sapogova E. E. Psikhologiya razvitiya cheloveka: uchebnoye posobiye [Psychology of human development: Textbook]. Moscow, Aspekt Press Publ., 2001. 460 p. (in Russian).
30. Semenyuk L. M. Khrestomatiya po vozrastnoy psikhologii: uchebnoye posobiye dlya studentov [Reader on developmental psychology: a textbook for students]. Moscow, Institut prakticheskoy psikhologii Publ., 1996. 304 p. (in Russian).
31. Shapovalenko I. V. Vozrastnaya psikhologiya (Psikhologiya razvitiya i vozrastnaya psikhologiya) [Developmental psychology (Developmental psychology and developmental psychology)]. Moscow, Gardariki Publ., 2004. 349 p. (in Russian).
( 617.98 kB ) 
( 601.8 kB )
Issue: 3, 2024
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: PSYCHOLOGY
Pages: 100 — 111
Downloads: 832