Associated Factors of Worrying About Loneliness Before Death

Abstract

Human beings’ welfare is closely related to their social relationships, and lack of that relationship could result in social isolation and loneliness. Various types of loneliness have been discussed in the literature, but a sense of loneliness before death has received no attention. Thus, this study is conducted to better understand the mechanism and nature of that type of loneliness. The response of this study was “Do you worry that you may be alone when you are dying?”. After highlighting the most important features, to examine the true associations between various factors and a sense of loneliness, the pairwise interactions across various variables were considered. It was found, for instance, while attending religious service, having higher subjective life condition, and being older are negatively associated with the response, belief that success depends on God and higher income are positively associated with that feeling. Also, while married people are less worried about loneliness before death, this interacts with a myriad of factors. Similarly, positive associations were found across responses and a higher concern that those close with us won’t be with us, or those who we care about might not remember us after death.