The Primacy of Compassionate Love: Loneliness and Psychological Well-Being in Later Life

Abstract

Despite emerging research on compassionate love's positive influence on later-life psychological well-being, investigations on the mediating processes accountable for such effects are scarce. Using data from a nationwide web-based survey (N = 1,861), we performed a mediation analysis to assess the role of loneliness in explaining the impact of compassionate love on psychological well-being. Even after controlling for emotional support, our model estimates suggest that older adults who felt loved had significantly lower levels of loneliness (β = -0.84, p < 0.001), significantly fewer depressive symptoms (β = -0.86, p < 0.001), and lower anxiety (β = -0.25, p > 0.05). Loneliness completely mediated the effect of compassionate love on anxiety (β = -0.82, p < 0.001) and significantly mediated compassionate love's influence on depressive symptoms (β = -1.18, p < 0.001). Our findings underscore the need for interventions that increase compassionate love to reduce loneliness and improve psychological well-being in later life.