About LONERS

LONERS is a research project that investigates loneliness as a growing public concern in a highly individualized society and acknowledges its complex emotional spectrum—from feelings of isolation, anxiety, and despair to chosen solitude. It examines how the emotional experiences and public discourse on loneliness shape social cohesion, trust in institutions, democratic processes, and the regulation of privacy, with the goal of reconceptualizing how institutions understand and respond to citizens’ emotional needs beyond traditional data-protection approaches. 

LONERS highlights the social and political consequences of loneliness, which are often overlooked in loneliness research that primarily focuses on psychological and medical aspects. It does so by providing insight into the diversity of emotions surrounding loneliness and their intersections with sociopolitical contexts, meanings, and social policies. Given that loneliness is not synonymous with social isolation and increasingly appears as part of an individualized lifestyle, a differentiated sociological approach is required, as provided by LONERS.

Methodologically, LONERS combines interpretive social research with multi-sited ethnography and text-as-data approaches. The multi-method analysis of life-story interviews; discourse, policy, and document analysis; and participant observation connects individual experiences with public discourse and with the broader social, political, and cultural environments. The project conducts research in selected European contexts to reflect diverse institutional and sociocultural settings.