Loneliness, Anxiety, and Life Satisfaction in Widowed and Divorced Women: Comparative Analysis

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21350021

Atrayee Saha (Psychologist, St. Jude’s High School, Hyderabad, Telangana)

When one perceives lack in one’s social relationships, it is called loneliness (Perlman & Peplau, 1982). When apprehension and tension related to anticipated future dangers captivate individuals, it is called anxiety (Chand, Marwaha, & Bender, 2021). Subjective evaluation of a person related to satisfaction with one’s life is called life satisfaction (Veenhoven, 1996). Widowhood is the state of being a widow (for females) or widower (for males) after the death of one’s spouse, causing psychological and social issues like profound grief, anxiety, and financial strain (Pradha, 2024). In a divorced state, one’s life events get disrupted, leading to high emotional stress, trauma, and significant social changes (Das, 2025). A correlational design is adopted to determine the impact of loneliness and anxiety on life satisfaction in widowed and divorced women. Between-group design is adopted for determining differences among widowed and divorced women with respect to loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction. For sample selection, a non-probability purposive sampling method was used. During data collection, 70 women were interviewed, of whom 35 were widowed and 35 were divorced. The findings showed loneliness creates impact on life satisfaction in widowed and divorced women. The findings showed no significant differences between widowed and divorced women with respect to loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that if a person conducts themselves with resilience and grit always, then no negative life events, whether it is loneliness, anxiety, or depression, could create any negative impact on a person’s life.