Psychology & well-being
Loneliness scale: what it is and how to measure it
- Concept
- Loneliness
- Field
- Psychology & well-being
- Scales in the library
- 1
- Items
- 3
Loneliness is the subjective feeling that one's social relationships are lacking, shown through feeling a lack of companionship, feeling left out, and feeling isolated. Hughes, Waite, Hawkley and Cacioppo (2004) drew 3 items from the 20-item UCLA scale for use in large surveys; the scale reaches alpha 0.72 and correlates highly with the full version. In Vietnam, the concept suits theses on students living away from home, older adults, remote workers, and the effects of social media.
Comparing the scales
| Scale | Author (year) | Items | Response format | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loneliness (LON) Three-item loneliness scale | Hughes, Waite, Hawkley & Cacioppo (2004) | 3 | 3-point | Choose this when you need a very short loneliness measure; 3 items, 3-point frequency scale, scores 3 to 9. |
Items of each scale
Original English wording from the published source. Replace placeholders such as [system] or
[brand] with what your study is about, and pilot the questionnaire with 20 to 30 respondents first.
Loneliness (LON) · Three-item loneliness scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| LON1 | First, how often do you feel that you lack companionship: Hardly ever, some of the time, or often? |
| LON2 | How often do you feel left out: Hardly ever, some of the time, or often? |
| LON3 | How often do you feel isolated from others? (Is it hardly ever, some of the time, or often?) |
Source: Hughes, Waite, Hawkley & Cacioppo (2004). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Three-item loneliness scale.
Tips
- Do not change it to a 5- or 7-point agreement scale: the questions ask 'how often', so a frequency scale matches the meaning.
- With only 3 items, EFA is of little use; report Cronbach's alpha and the CFA loadings if you include it in SEM.
- 'Left out' is easily translated as 'abandoned', which is heavier than the original meaning; pilot to choose wording that respondents understand correctly.
- This scale is not a diagnostic tool. Theses asking about mental health must follow your university's research ethics rules (with a participation consent form) and list a psychological support contact at the end of the questionnaire.
Once you have a scale, put the concept in the research model drawer to state your hypotheses, work out the minimum sample size, and after data collection check reliability with the Cronbach's alpha calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How is the 3-item loneliness scale scored?
Sum the 3 items (1 = Hardly ever, 2 = Some of the time, 3 = Often) to get 3 to 9; higher scores mean more loneliness. There are no reverse items.
When should I use the full UCLA version?
When loneliness is the main variable and you need higher resolution. The 3-item version suits cases where loneliness is just one variable in a long questionnaire.
Do I need permission?
The three questions are published in Hughes et al. (2004), freely readable on PubMed Central; when using them in research, cite the original article.