THE PERCEIVED CAUSAL-STRUCTURE OF LONELINESS

Two studies examined the way people represent the causes of loneliness as a semantic space and as a causal network. In a multidimensional scaling task, the results of Michela, Peplau, and Weeks (1982) were replicated and the causes were classified according to locus and stability. In a 2nd study, 44 people judged the likelihood that these causes were interconnected. From these data, a causal network or perceived causal structure (Kelley, 1983) was derived by means of network analysis. The structure revealed a complex lay theory of loneliness in which personality influenced group behavior, which in turn influenced psychological states and beliefs. States and beliefs were also affected by physical features and situational factors.