Predictors of Loneliness in Turkish University Students: Shyness and Gender

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate how well shyness and gender predicted loneliness levels of university students. The UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Cheek and Buss Revised Shyness Scale and a personal information sheet were used to collect data. The sample of the study was 375 (242 female, 133 male) university students from different departments of a state university in Turkey. Multiple Regression Analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the regression model containing shyness and gender explained 33% of the total variance in loneliness. Specifically, while shyness was found to significantly and positively predict loneliness, male participants were found to have higher loneliness levels than female participants in the current study. Some implications of the present findings were discussed in the study.