| dc.description.abstract | The present research was designed to investigate the
differences between lonely and non-lonely early adolescents
in: (a) their disclosures to familiar peers and, (b) their
perceptions of their relations with familiar peers. In the study,
sixty-nine early adolescents completed the Asher Loneliness
Questionnaire (Asher et al., 1984). A sub-sample of males
and females who were lonely and non-lonely were engaged
in dyadic conversations. The subjects were required to
complete pre-conversation and post-conversation ratings of:
(a) liking of partner, (b) perceived liking by partner, (c)
familiarity of partner, and (d) perceived familiarity by partner.
As expected, same-sex patterns emerged with respect to
familiarity and perceived familiarity. Although not
hypothesized, same-sex patterns of liking and perceived
liking were also found. It was expected that there would be
differences between lonely and non-lonely early adolescents
in their disclosures to peers as a function of sex. While
differences between the disclosures of lonely and non-lonely
subjects were found, these were not a function of sex but of
partner’s loneliness. Specifically, it was found that lonely
male subjects disclosed less intimate information to lonely
than non-lonely partners. Non-lonely male subjects did not
differentially disclose to lonely and non-lonely partners. Lonely female subjects disclosed relatively high-intimate
information to both lonely and non-lonely partners compared
to non-lonely female subjects. As expected, lonely subjects
reported that they were less liked by partners than did nonlonely
subjects. The implications for clinical work and peer
relations are discussed as well as possible limitations of the
study. | |
