The social stigma of loneliness: A sociological approach to understanding the experiences of older people

Abstract

Loneliness, and its stigmatising nature, has long been of interest to sociology, with germinal contributions by writers such as Robert Weiss. Yet, the social stigma of loneliness remains under-theorised. Furthermore, recent scholarship on loneliness is dominated by psychological perspectives that often overlook the social role of stigma and its entanglement with factors like age-related norms and contexts. To address these gaps, we develop a conceptual understanding of the stigma of loneliness in later life. We focus on older people (65+) since loneliness is strongly linked with assumed age-related decline – illness, ‘uselessness’ and increasing isolation – which research suggests is more likely to be internalised in later life. In developing our conceptual lens, we creatively combine Erving Goffman and Imogen Tyler’s work on stigma. Such reconfiguration integrates relationality and power within micro and macro approaches, pushing forward sociological boundaries on stigma. It also foregrounds the connections between agentic and structural elements of stigma, which have been missing in loneliness studies. Through this lens, we derive key dimensions of the stigma of loneliness: enaction, reception and management. To apply our framework, we draw on interviews, diaries and ethnographic data capturing persistent loneliness among older people living alone and in care homes. Findings illuminate the complexity of loneliness stigma in later life contexts, offering new research and policy directions.