Being Socially Isolated is a Matter of Subjectivity: the Mediator of Life Meaning and Moderator of Religiosity

Albeit accumulated research supporting the deleterious effects of being socially isolated on emotional and behavioral consequences, paucity of effort has been made to investigate impacts of different forms of social isolation on such outcomes. Furthermore, no study has attempted to look into the mediating effect of life meaning and moderating effect of religiosity on the above relationships. The present study verified the positive effects of both perceived social isolation and subjective loneliness on emotional distress and hostility, in which subjective loneliness was a function of perceived social isolation and significantly mediated by one's meaningful existence. More complicated, religiosity showed a moderating role in the relationship between perceived social isolation and subjective loneliness through its promoting effect on meaning in life. Implications of these findings were emphasized in discussion, plus directions for future research also addressed.