Sourajit Roy
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
St. Joseph’s College
Darjeeling
Abstract
Gender differentiation of loneliness in old age has remained a controversial issue in gerontological literature. Most of the studies suggest that elderly women are lonelier then men. However, some other investigations depict that loneliness in old age does not vary according to gender. In this backdrop, the current study seeks to compare the feeling of loneliness among 286 elderly men and women on the basis of some selective variables. The findings reveal that though majority of the elderly respondents suffer from some feeling of loneliness but severe feeling is found only among one-fifth of elderly. Further, gender differences of loneliness arise out of differential marital status of elderly men and women, but with same marital status it does not vary significantly. It is also found that income, educational status and living arrangements do not determine the feeling of loneliness of aged men and women.
