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Loneliness and Personality: Noise- and Bias-Free True Correlations Between Loneliness and the Big Five Personality Domains.

Paddy Maher·Yavor Dragostinov·Uku Vainik·Andrew Cooper·Jüri Allik·Anu Realo·René Mõttus
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: While loneliness is intertwined with many mental and physical health problems, its origins are not yet well understood. We sought to better understand its link to personality in a large national cohort. METHODS: Combining self- and informant ratings in multiple samples, we conducted the largest study to date to examine loneliness' true correlations (rtrues) with the Big Five personality traits, free of single-method biases and transient and random errors. RESULTS: Across three samples (Estonian-speaking, N = 20,893; Russian-speaking, N = 762; English-speaking, N = 599), we found a strong relationship between loneliness and Neuroticism (rtrue = 0.60-0.70). Loneliness also had robust but much weaker associations with Extraversion (rtrue = -0.20 to -0.30), and only weak associations (rtrue = 0.10 to -0.20) with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness. Collectively, the Big Five accounted for over 50% of loneliness variance. In a subsample, the associations were only slightly smaller longitudinally over approximately 10 years. CONCLUSION: Overall, feeling lonely is more closely related to Neuroticism than previously understood, and the association endures over time.

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HumansLonelinessPersonalityNeuroticismFemaleMaleExtraversion, PsychologicalEstonialonelinessmulti‐raterneuroticismpersonalitytrue correlationsJournal Article

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Paddy Maher, Yavor Dragostinov, Uku Vainik, Andrew Cooper, Jüri Allik, Anu Realo, René Mõttus. 2026-01-13. Loneliness and Personality: Noise- and Bias-Free True Correlations Between Loneliness and the Big Five Personality Domains.. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.70048

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