Korchagina loneliness questionnaire. Experiencing feelings of loneliness in adolescence and adolescence
Description
Purpose of the study: to study in theoretical and experimental aspects the state of loneliness in adolescence and adolescence.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set in the work:
1. Analyze the literature on the topic course work, having examined the concept and characteristics of loneliness, characterizing the features of development in adolescence and young adulthood.
2. Select diagnostic methods for studying the state of loneliness and conduct a confirmatory experiment.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………...3
1 Theoretical aspect of studying the problem of loneliness in psychology........6
1.1 The concept of loneliness………………………………………………………….6
1.2 Teenagers’ experience of loneliness as a natural age-related feeling………………………………………………………………13
2 Studying the feeling of loneliness in adolescents and young men…………………………………………..………………………………….17
2.1 Organization and methods of experimental research into the state of loneliness in adolescents and young adults………………………………………………………………………………………...17
2.2 Analysis of the research results……………………………………...21
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………......33
List of sources used…………………………………….36
The work consists of 1 file
T.V. Dragunova conducted a special study aimed at clarifying the role and place of loneliness in adolescence. The overall conclusion of the study is as follows:
- “The teenagers we studied do not experience the feeling of loneliness as a constant and characteristic sensation in their life. It arises episodically under the influence of external rather than internal circumstances.”
- “At the same time, this episodic feeling is different from the feeling that children have more younger age when they are deprived of the company of comrades. The teenager feels loneliness as a consequence of the unfulfilled need to be included in collective life. That is, loneliness appears as a result of a conflict with a group of comrades (or a comrade), even while maintaining good relations with the family,”
- “The episodic feeling of loneliness does not at all give teenagers pleasure and is actively overcome by them through inclusion in the life and activities of the team.”
At the same time, T.V. Dragunova singled out the “desire for loneliness” as a special phenomenon, understanding it as the need to be alone that occasionally arises in adolescents. “Our teenagers’ desire to be alone is associated with the need to understand themselves, the events of the world around them, and their attitude to these events.”
One of the main points of the study by T.V. Dragunova is, in your opinion, understanding the need to be alone as “a necessary assimilation for the formation of a worldview, and as evidence of the presence of this process (formation of a worldview) at some specific stage.”
2 STUDYING THE FEELINGS OF LONELINESS IN ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTH
2.1 ORGANIZATION AND METHODS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON THE STATE OF LONELINESS IN YOUNG PEOPLE
As part of the study of the state of loneliness and the characteristics of self-esteem in adolescence, the following diagnostic methods were used: “Loneliness” (S.G. Korchagina’s questionnaire), a questionnaire to determine the type of loneliness (S.G. Korchagina), a level diagnostic technique subjective feeling loneliness (D. Russell and M. Ferguson), methods for studying personality self-esteem by S.A. Budassi.
The study was conducted in December 2011, on the basis of the municipal educational institution Parninskaya secondary school No. 5, Sharypovsky district, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The study sample consisted of 43 eleventh grade students, the average age of the subjects was 15.5 years.
Questionnaire S.G. Korchagina’s book “Loneliness” allows us to diagnose the depth of the experience of loneliness.
This questionnaire is quite simple to process. The subject’s answers are assigned the following points: always – 4, often – 3, sometimes – 2, never – 1.
The key to measuring loneliness is:
- 12-16 points – the person is not experiencing loneliness now;
- 17-27 points – shallow experience of possible loneliness;
- 28-38 points – deep experience of actual loneliness;
- 39-48 points – a very deep experience of loneliness, immersion in this state.
Questionnaire to determine the type of loneliness (author S.G. Korchagina)
Aimed at determining both the depth of the experience of loneliness and its type (diffuse, alienating, dissociated).
Processing is carried out in accordance with the key, a simple summation of points.
Key to the questionnaire for the type of loneliness S.G. Korchagina
Table 1
|
Diffuse |
4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 23, 25, 26 |
|
Alienating |
1, 2, 5, 16, 22, 24, 27, 29 |
|
11, 13, 14, 23, 25, 26, 30 |
||
Dissociated |
1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 19, 28 |
|
State of loneliness (no species definition) |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 29, 22 |
|
People experiencing diffuse loneliness are characterized by suspicion in interpersonal relationships and a combination of contradictory personal and behavioral characteristics: resistance and adaptation in conflicts; presence of all levels of empathy; excitability, anxiety and emotive character, communicative orientation. In many ways, this contradiction is explained by a person’s identification with different objects (people), who naturally have different psychological characteristics. In a state of acute experience of diffuse loneliness, a person strives for other people, hoping to find in communication with them confirmation of his own existence, his significance. This fails because a person does not communicate in the proper sense, does not share his own, does not exchange, but only tries on the guise of another, that is, he identifies with him, becoming, as it were, a living mirror. Such people react very sharply to stress, choosing a strategy of seeking sympathy and support. Intuitively anticipating his true, existential loneliness, a person experiences colossal fear. He tries to “escape” from this horror to people and chooses that strategy of interaction with them, which, in his opinion, provides him with at least temporary acceptance - identification. He demonstrates absolute agreement with the opinions, principles, morals, and interests of the person with whom he communicates. In essence, a person begins to live from the mental resources of the object of identification, that is, to exist at the expense of another. Striving for true human communication, he acts in such a way that he does not leave himself the slightest chance to fulfill this desire. The consequence of this, of course, is the most severe experience of loneliness, filled with fear, disappointment and a feeling of the meaninglessness of one’s existence. With successful therapy of this condition, the personal characteristics of clients change towards harmonization and consistency; alienating loneliness manifests itself in excitability, anxiety, cyclothymic character, low empathy, confrontation in conflicts, severe inability to cooperate, suspicion and dependence in interpersonal relationships.
The consequence of the predominance of a tendency towards isolation in an individual is the alienation of a person from other people, norms, and values accepted in society, the world as a whole. At the same time, there is a loss of significant connections and contacts, intimacy, privacy in communication, and the ability to unite.
The next type of loneliness – dissociated – is the most complex state, both in terms of experiences, origin and manifestations. Its genesis is determined by pronounced processes of identification and alienation and their abrupt change in relation to even the same people. First, a person identifies himself with another, accepting his way of life and following it, trusting infinitely “as in himself.” It is this “as oneself” that forms the basis for understanding the psychological genesis of this state. After complete identification, there follows a sharp alienation from the same object, which reflects a person’s true attitude towards himself. Some aspects of one’s personality are accepted by a person, others are categorically rejected. As soon as the projection of these rejected qualities is reflected in the object of identification, the latter is immediately rejected entirely, that is, a sharp and unconditional alienation occurs. The feeling of loneliness is acute, clear, conscious, painful. Dissociated loneliness is expressed in anxiety and demonstrativeness of character, confrontation in conflicts, personal orientation, a combination of high and low empathy (in the absence of an average level), selfishness and subordination in interpersonal relationships, which, of course, are opposite tendencies.
A subjectively positive type of loneliness - controlled loneliness, or solitude, is a variant of the experience of psychological separateness, one’s own individuality, which is personally determined by the optimal ratio of the results of the processes of identification and isolation. This dynamic balance can be considered as one of the manifestations of the psychological stability of the individual relative to the influences of society.
Methodology for diagnosing the level of subjective sensation by D. Russell
And M. Ferguson allows us to determine how lonely a person considers himself to be.
Based on the survey results, the number of each answer option is calculated. The sum of the answers “often” is multiplied by three, “sometimes” by two, “rarely” by one and “never” by 0. The results obtained are added up. The maximum possible loneliness score is 60 points.
A high degree of loneliness is shown from 40 to 60 points - an average level of loneliness, from 0 to 20 points - a low level of loneliness.
Thus, the above methods were carried out as part of a study on the topic of the course work, let’s consider their results.
2.2 Analysis of research results
Diagnostic results for 11th grade students, obtained using the questionnaire from S.G. Korchagina “Loneliness” are presented in Table 2.
table 2
Diagnostic results for 11th grade students
According to the questionnaire of S.G. Korchagina "Loneliness"
Interpretation |
||
Deep experience of actual loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Natasha R. |
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
|
Deep experience of actual loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
The person is not experiencing loneliness now |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Natalya I. |
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
|
Deep experience of actual loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Deep experience of actual loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Deep experience of actual loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
||
Shallow experience of possible loneliness |
Five subjects (Yuri K., Asya M., Valeria I., Alexandra K., Valentina O.) have a deep experience of actual loneliness, one (Alexander K.) does not currently experience loneliness, the rest of the subjects experience a shallow experience of possible loneliness. This means that the five subjects who revealed a deep experience of actual loneliness: truly, at this period of life, experience a chronic state of loneliness; there is no understanding in interpersonal relationships, there is a state of abandonment, the impossibility of frank, close communication, there is a pressing dependence on other people, experiencing one’s own failures, as well as difficulties in the ability to enjoy the victories and successes of others. When solving difficult life problems, these subjects rely only on their own strength.
Most of the subjects revealed a shallow experience of possible loneliness - this is a lack of genuine human communication from time to time, a lack of understanding on the part of friends and loved ones. This is a passing feeling of loneliness - for some time a person may feel really lonely, but as soon as he, for example, meets with friends or visits a public place for entertainment purposes, not a trace of the feeling of loneliness remains.
It is worth noting that only one out of 24 subjects does not experience feelings of loneliness. A very deep experience of loneliness, meaning withdrawal into oneself, immersion in this state was not identified. The percentage ratio of the levels of experience of loneliness in the sample of subjects is 0 - do not currently experience loneliness, 88.4 - shallow experience of possible loneliness, 11.6 - deep experience of actual loneliness.
The questionnaire for the type of loneliness (by S.G. Korchagina) during its implementation revealed the results presented in Table 3.
Table 3
Diagnostic results for students 11 “a”
According to a questionnaire to determine the type of loneliness (author S. G. Korchagina)
Diffuse loneliness |
Alienating loneliness |
Dissociated loneliness |
State of loneliness |
|
Natasha R. |
||||
Natalya I. |
||||
The test is aimed at determining the depth of the experience of loneliness and its type (diffuse, alienating, dissociated).
Instructions.“You are offered 30 questions or statements and two possible answers to them (yes or no). Choose the one that best matches your self-image.”
1. Do you think that no one really knows you?
2. Have you been experiencing a lack of friendly communication lately?
3. Do you think that your loved ones and friends are not very worried about you?
4. Do you have the idea that no one really needs you (they can easily cope without you)?
5. Are you afraid of seeming intrusive with your revelations?
6. Does it seem to you that your death will not bring much suffering to your loved ones and friends?
7. Are there people in your life with whom you feel like you belong?
8. Does it happen that you experience opposite feelings towards the same person?
9. Are your feelings sometimes extreme?
10. Do you ever have the feeling that you are “not of this world”, that everything is different for you than for others?
11. Do you strive more for your friends than they do for you?
12. Do you think that you give more to people than you receive from them?
13. Do you have the mental strength to truly deeply empathize with another person?
14. Do you find ways to fully express your empathy for the sufferer?
15. Are you overwhelmed by feelings (sadness, regret, pain, remorse) about something that is irretrievably gone?
16. Do you notice that people for some reason avoid you?
17. Is it difficult for you to forgive yourself for weakness, mistake, or oversight?
18. Would you like to change yourself somehow?
19. Do you think it is necessary to change something in your life?
20. Do you feel a sufficient reserve of strength to independently change your life for the better?
21. Do you feel overwhelmed by superficial social contacts?
22. Do you feel that other people understand that you are different from them and, in general, an “alien”?
23. Do your mood, condition depend on the mood, condition, behavior of other people?
24. Do you like being alone with yourself?
25. When you feel that someone doesn’t like you, do you strive to change their opinion about yourself?
26. Do you strive to ensure that everyone always understands you correctly?
27. Do you think that you know your habits, characteristics, and inclinations well?
28. Does it ever happen that you surprise yourself with an unexpected action (reaction, word)?
29. Does it happen that you cannot establish relationships that suit you?
30. Have you ever felt completely accepted and understood?
Processing of results and interpretation
Processing is carried out in accordance with the key, a simple summation of points.
People experiencing diffuse loneliness, is distinguished by suspicion in interpersonal relationships and a combination of contradictory personal and behavioral characteristics: resistance and adaptation in conflicts; presence of all levels of empathy; excitability, anxiety and emotive character, communicative orientation. In many ways, this contradiction is explained by a person’s identification with different objects (people), who naturally have different psychological characteristics. In a state of acute experience of diffuse loneliness, a person strives for other people, hoping to find in communication with them confirmation of his own existence, his significance. This fails because a person does not communicate in the proper sense, does not share his own, does not exchange, but only tries on the guise of another, that is, he identifies with him, becoming, as it were, a living mirror. Such people react very sharply to stress, choosing a strategy of seeking sympathy and support. Intuitively anticipating his true, existential loneliness, a person experiences colossal fear. He tries to “escape” from this horror to people and chooses the strategy of interaction with them that, in his opinion, will provide him with at least temporary acceptance - identification. He demonstrates absolute agreement with the opinions, principles, morals, and interests of the person with whom he communicates. In essence, a person begins to live from the mental resources of the object of identification, that is, to exist at the expense of another. Striving for true human communication, he acts in such a way that he does not leave himself the slightest chance to fulfill this desire. The consequence of this, of course, is the most severe experience of loneliness, filled with fear, disappointment and a feeling of the meaninglessness of one’s existence. With successful treatment of this condition, the personal characteristics of clients change towards harmonization and consistency. Loneliness manifests itself in excitability, anxiety, cyclothymic character, low empathy, confrontation in conflicts, severe inability to cooperate, suspicion and dependence in interpersonal relationships.
The next type of loneliness is dissociated– represents the most complex state both in terms of experiences, origin and manifestations. Its genesis is determined by pronounced processes of identification and alienation and their abrupt change in relation to even the same people. First, a person identifies himself with another, accepting his way of life and following it, trusting infinitely “as in himself.” It is this “as oneself” that forms the basis for understanding the psychological genesis of this state. After complete identification, there follows a sharp alienation from the same object, which reflects a person’s true attitude towards himself. Some aspects of one’s personality are accepted by a person, others are categorically rejected. As soon as the projection of these rejected qualities is reflected in the object of identification, the latter is immediately rejected entirely, that is, a sharp and unconditional alienation occurs. The feeling of loneliness is acute, clear, conscious, painful.
Dissociated loneliness is expressed in anxiety, excitability and demonstrativeness of character, confrontation in conflicts, personal orientation, a combination of high and low empathy (in the absence of an average level), selfishness and subordination in interpersonal relationships, which, of course, are opposite tendencies.
Questionnaire to determine the type of loneliness
S.G. Korchagina
The test is aimed at determining both the depth of the experience of loneliness and its type (diffuse, alienating, dissociated).
Instructions. You are offered 30 questions or statements and two options for answering them (yes or no), choose the one that most matches your self-image.
Questionnaire
Do you think that no one really knows you?
Have you been experiencing a lack of friendly communication lately?
Do you think that your loved ones and friends are not very worried about you?
Do you have the idea that no one really needs you? (they can easily cope without you)?
Are you afraid of seeming intrusive with your revelations?
Do you think that your death will not bring much suffering to your loved ones and friends?
Are there people in your life with whom you feel like you belong?
Does it ever happen that you experience opposite feelings towards the same person?
Are your feelings sometimes extreme?
Do you ever have the feeling that you are “not of this world”, that everything is different for you than for others?
Do you strive more for your friends than they do for you?
Do you think that you give more to people than you receive from them?
Do you have the mental strength to truly deeply empathize with another person?
Do you find ways to fully express your empathy for the sufferer?
Are you overwhelmed by feelings (sadness, regret, pain, remorse) about something that is irretrievably gone?
Do you notice that people for some reason avoid you?
Is it difficult for you to forgive yourself for weakness, mistake, oversight?
Would you like to change yourself somehow?
Do you think it is necessary to change something in your life?
Do you feel a sufficient reserve of strength to independently change your life for the better?
Do you feel overwhelmed by superficial social contacts?
Do you feel that other people understand that you are different from them and, in general, an “alien”?
Does your mood, condition depend on the mood, condition, behavior of other people?
Do you like being alone with yourself?
When you feel that someone doesn’t like you, do you strive to change their opinion about yourself?
Do you strive to ensure that everyone always understands you correctly?
Do you think that you know your habits, characteristics, inclinations well?
Does it ever happen that you surprise yourself with an unexpected action (reaction, word)?
Does it happen that you cannot establish relationships that suit you?
Have you ever felt completely accepted and understood?
Processing of results and interpretation
Processing is carried out in accordance with the key, a simple summation of points.
Key
People who are worrieddiffuse loneliness , is distinguished by suspicion in interpersonal relationships and a combination of contradictory personal and behavioral characteristics: resistance and adaptation in conflicts; presence of all levels of empathy; excitability, anxiety and emotive character, communicative orientation. In many ways, this contradiction is explained by a person’s identification with different objects (people), who naturally have different psychological characteristics. In a state of acute experience of diffuse loneliness, a person strives for other people, hoping to find in communication with them confirmation of his own existence, his significance. This fails because a person does not communicate in the proper sense, does not share his own, does not exchange, but only tries on the guise of another, that is, he identifies with him, becoming, as it were, a living mirror. Such people react very sharply to stress, choosing a strategy of seeking sympathy and support. Intuitively anticipating his true, existential loneliness, a person experiences colossal fear. He tries to “escape” from this horror to people and chooses the strategy of interaction with them that, in his opinion, will provide him with at least temporary acceptance - identification. He demonstrates absolute agreement with the opinions, principles, morals, and interests of the person with whom he communicates. In essence, a person begins to live from the mental resources of the object of identification, that is, to exist at the expense of another. Striving for true human communication, he acts in such a way that he does not leave himself the slightest chance to fulfill this desire. The consequence of this, of course, is the most severe experience of loneliness, filled with fear, disappointment and a feeling of the meaninglessness of one’s existence. With successful treatment of this condition, the personal characteristics of clients change towards harmonization and consistency. Alienating loneliness manifests itself in excitability, anxiety, cyclothymic character, low empathy, confrontation in conflicts, severe inability to cooperate, suspicion and dependence in interpersonal relationships.The next type of loneliness isdissociated – represents the most complex state, both in terms of experiences, and in origin and manifestations. Its genesis is determined by pronounced processes of identification and alienation and their abrupt change in relation to even the same people. First, a person identifies himself with another, accepting his way of life and following it, trusting infinitely “as in himself.” It is this “as oneself” that forms the basis for understanding the psychological genesis of this state. After complete identification, there follows a sharp alienation from the same object, which reflects a person’s true attitude towards himself. Some aspects of one’s personality are accepted by a person, others are categorically rejected. As soon as the projection of these rejected qualities is reflected in the object of identification, the latter is immediately rejected entirely, that is, a sharp and unconditional alienation occurs. The feeling of loneliness is acute, clear, conscious, painful. Dissociated loneliness is expressed in anxiety, excitability and demonstrative character, confrontation in conflicts, personal orientation, a combination of high and low empathy (in the absence of an average level), selfishness and subordination in interpersonal relationships, which, of course, are opposite tendencies.
A subjectively positive type of loneliness - controlled loneliness, or solitude, is a variant of the experience of psychological separateness, one’s own individuality, which is personally determined by the optimal ratio of the results of the processes of identification and isolation. This dynamic balance can be considered as one of the manifestations of the psychological stability of the individual relative to the influences of society.
Scales: diffuse, alienating, dissociated loneliness.
PURPOSE OF THE TEST / Definitions and depth of the experience of loneliness, and its type. Test instructions/ You are offered 30 questions or statements and 2 possible answers to them. Choose the one that most matches your idea of yourself.
№ Questions yes no 1 Do you think that no one really knows you? 2 Have you been experiencing a lack of friendly communication lately? 3 Do you think that your loved ones and friends are not very worried about you? 4 Do you have the idea that no one really needs you? (they can easily cope without you)? 5 Are you afraid of seeming intrusive with your revelations? 6 Does it seem to you that your death will not bring much suffering to your loved ones and friends? 7 Are there people in your life with whom you feel like you belong? 8 Does it happen that you experience opposite feelings towards the same person? 9 Are your feelings sometimes extreme? 10 Do you ever have the feeling that you are “not of this world”, that everything is different for you than for others? 11 Do you strive more for your friends than they do for you? 12 Do you think that you give more to people than you receive from them? 13 Do you have the mental strength to truly deeply empathize with another person? 14 Do you find ways to fully express your empathy for the sufferer? 15 Are you overwhelmed by feelings (sadness, regret, pain, repentance) about something that is irretrievably gone? 16 Do you notice that people for some reason avoid you? 17 Is it difficult for you to forgive yourself for weakness, mistake, oversight? 18 Would you like to change yourself somehow? 19 Do you think it is necessary to change something in your life? 20 Do you feel a sufficient reserve of strength to independently change your life for the better? 21 Do you feel overwhelmed by superficial social contacts? 22 Do you feel that other people understand that you are different from them and, in general, an “alien”? 23 Does your mood, state depend on the mood, state, behavior of other people? 24 Do you like being alone with yourself? 25 When you feel that someone doesn’t like you, do you strive to change their opinion about yourself? 26 Do you strive to ensure that everyone always understands you correctly? 27 Do you think that you know your habits, characteristics, inclinations well? 28 Does it ever happen that you surprise yourself with an unexpected action (reaction, word)? 29 Does it happen that you cannot establish relationships that suit you? 30 Have you ever felt completely accepted and understood?
Loneliness test. Method of subjective feeling of loneliness by D. Russell and M. Ferguson
Description: This diagnostic test-questionnaire is designed to determine the level of loneliness, how lonely a person feels.
Quiz: How lonely are you? Method of subjective feeling of loneliness by D. Russell and M. Ferguson:
Instructions. You are presented with a series of statements. Consider each one sequentially and evaluate in terms of the frequency of their occurrence in relation to your life using four answer options: “often,” “sometimes,” “rarely,” “never.” Mark the selected option with a “+” sign.
Text of the questionnaire (questions).
|
Statements | |||||
|
I'm unhappy doing so many things alone | |||||
|
I have no one to talk to | |||||
|
I can't bear to be so lonely | |||||
|
I miss communication | |||||
|
I feel like no one understands me | |||||
|
I find myself waiting for people to call, write to me | |||||
|
There's no one I can turn to | |||||
|
I'm not close to anyone anymore | |||||
|
Those around me do not share my interests and ideas | |||||
|
I feel abandoned | |||||
|
I am unable to open up and communicate with those around me | |||||
|
I feel completely alone | |||||
|
My social relationships and connections are superficial | |||||
|
I'm dying for company | |||||
|
Nobody really knows me well | |||||
|
I feel isolated from others | |||||
|
I'm miserable being such an outcast | |||||
|
I have trouble making friends | |||||
|
I feel excluded and isolated by others | |||||
|
People around me, but not with me |
Test instructions: you are offered 12 questions and 4 possible answers to them. Choose the one that best matches your self-image.
|
№ |
Questions |
Answer options |
|||
|
Always |
often |
Sometimes |
never |
||
|
1 |
Does it happen that you do not find understanding with your loved ones (friends)? | ||||
|
2 |
Do you have the idea that no one really needs you? | ||||
|
3 |
Do you ever have a feeling of being abandoned, abandoned in the world? | ||||
|
4 |
Do you lack friendly communication? | ||||
|
5 |
Do you ever have a feeling of acute longing for something irretrievably gone, lost forever? | ||||
|
6 |
Do you feel overwhelmed by superficial social contacts that do not provide the opportunity for true human interaction? | ||||
|
7 |
Do you have a feeling of your own dependence on other people? | ||||
|
8 |
Are you now capable of truly empathizing with another person’s grief? | ||||
|
9 |
Can you express your empathy, understanding, sympathy to a person? | ||||
|
10 |
Does it happen that the success or luck of another person makes you feel disadvantaged, regretful about your own failures? | ||||
|
11 |
Do you demonstrate your independence in solving difficult life situations? | ||||
|
12 |
Do you feel you have a sufficient reserve of capabilities to independently solve life’s problems? | ||||
This questionnaire is quite simple to process. The following points are assigned to the subject’s answers: always – 4, often – 3, sometimes – 2, never – 1.
The key to measuring loneliness is:
12-16 points – the person is not experiencing loneliness now;
17-27 points – shallow experience of possible loneliness;
28-38 – deep experience of actual loneliness;
39-48 – a very deep experience of loneliness, immersion in this state.
Questionnaire to determine the type of loneliness (S.G. Korchagina)
Scales: diffuse, alienating, dissociated loneliness.
Purpose of the test: definitions and depths of the experience of loneliness, and its type. Test instructions
You are offered 30 questions or statements and 2 possible answers to them (yes or no), choose the one that most matches your self-image.
Test
Do you think that no one really knows you?
Have you been experiencing a lack of friendly communication lately?
Do you think that your loved ones and friends are not very worried about you?
Do you have the idea that no one really needs you? (they can easily cope without you)?
Are you afraid of seeming intrusive with your revelations?
Do you think that your death will not bring much suffering to your loved ones and friends?
Are there people in your life with whom you feel like you belong?
Does it ever happen that you experience opposite feelings towards the same person?
Are your feelings sometimes extreme?
Do you ever have the feeling that you are “not of this world”, that everything is different for you than for others?
Do you strive more for your friends than they do for you?
Do you think that you give more to people than you receive from them?
Do you have the mental strength to truly deeply empathize with another person?
Do you find ways to fully express your empathy for the sufferer?
Are you overwhelmed by feelings (sadness, regret, pain, remorse) about something that is irretrievably gone?
Do you notice that people for some reason avoid you?
Is it difficult for you to forgive yourself for weakness, mistake, oversight?
Would you like to change yourself somehow?
Do you think it is necessary to change something in your life?
Do you feel a sufficient reserve of strength to independently change your life for the better?
Do you feel overwhelmed by superficial social contacts?
Do you feel that other people understand that you are different from them and, in general, an “alien”?
Does your mood, condition depend on the mood, condition, behavior of other people?
Do you like being alone with yourself?
When you feel that someone doesn’t like you, do you strive to change their opinion about yourself?
Do you strive to ensure that everyone always understands you correctly?
Do you think that you know your habits, characteristics, inclinations well?
Does it ever happen that you surprise yourself with an unexpected action (reaction, word)?
Does it happen that you cannot establish relationships that suit you?
Have you ever felt completely accepted and understood?
Processing and interpretation of test results
State of loneliness (without defining the type):
"+" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 29, 22
“–” 13, 14, 30, 24
People experiencing diffuse loneliness are characterized by suspicion in interpersonal relationships and a combination of contradictory personal and behavioral characteristics: resistance and adaptation in conflicts; presence of all levels of empathy; excitability, anxiety and emotive character, communicative orientation. In many ways, this contradiction is explained by a person’s identification with different objects (people), who naturally have different psychological characteristics. Let us recall that in a state of acute experience of diffuse loneliness, a person strives for other people, hoping to find in communication with them confirmation of his own existence, his significance. This fails because a person does not communicate in the proper sense, does not share his own, does not exchange, but only tries on the guise of another, that is, he identifies with him, becoming, as it were, a living mirror. Such people react very sharply to stress, choosing a strategy of seeking sympathy and support. Intuitively anticipating his true, existential loneliness, a person experiences colossal fear. He tries to “escape” from this horror to people and chooses the strategy of interaction with them that, in his opinion, will provide him with at least temporary acceptance - identification. He demonstrates absolute agreement with the opinions, principles, morals, and interests of the person with whom he communicates. In essence, a person begins to live from the mental resources of the object of identification, that is, to exist at the expense of another. Striving for true human communication, he acts in such a way that he does not leave himself the slightest chance to fulfill this desire. The consequence of this, of course, is the most severe experience of loneliness, filled with fear, disappointment and a feeling of the meaninglessness of one’s existence. With successful treatment of this condition, the personal characteristics of clients change towards harmonization and consistency.
Alienating loneliness manifests itself in excitability, anxiety, cyclothymic character, low empathy, confrontation in conflicts, severe inability to cooperate, suspicion and dependence in interpersonal relationships. Let us briefly repeat the features of this state of loneliness.
The next type of loneliness – dissociated – is the most complex state, both in terms of experiences, origin and manifestations. Its genesis is determined by pronounced processes of identification and alienation and their abrupt change in relation to even the same people. First, a person identifies himself with another, accepting his way of life and following it, trusting infinitely “as in himself.” It is this “as oneself” that forms the basis for understanding the psychological genesis of this state. After complete identification, there follows a sharp alienation from the same object, which reflects a person’s true attitude towards himself. Some aspects of one’s personality are accepted by a person, others are categorically rejected. As soon as the projection of these rejected qualities is reflected in the object of identification, the latter is immediately rejected entirely, that is, a sharp and unconditional alienation occurs. The feeling of loneliness is acute, clear, conscious, painful.
Dissociated loneliness is expressed in anxiety, excitability and demonstrative character, confrontation in conflicts, personal orientation, a combination of high and low empathy (in the absence of an average level), selfishness and subordination in interpersonal relationships, which, of course, are opposite tendencies.
A subjectively positive type of loneliness - controlled loneliness, or solitude, is a variant of the experience of psychological separateness, one’s own individuality, which is personally determined by the optimal ratio of the results of the processes of identification and isolation. This dynamic balance can be considered as one of the manifestations of the psychological stability of the individual relative to the influences of society.
Korchagina S.G. Psychology of loneliness: a textbook. – M.: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute, 2008.
