Loneliness and Life Satisfaction in Japan and Australia

We examined the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in 121 residents of Fukoku, Japan, and 139 residents of Melbourne, Australia, using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1983) and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980). Australian subjects reported significantly less loneliness and significantly greater life satisfaction than Japanese subjects. A high inverse correlation was found between loneliness and life satisfaction in Australian subjects, with a much smaller inverse relationship observed among the Japanese, suggesting that loneliness in Japanese subjects did not emotionally translate into life dissatisfaction as it did in Australian subjects. Instead, the experience of loneliness in Japanese individuals may remain largely independent of general life satisfaction.