Loneliness, social support, and perceived relationships with God

In this study we examined the hypothesis that religious beliefs, and particularly beliefs about having a relationship with God, contribute to the prediction of (lower levels of) loneliness above and beyond the prediction afforded by perceived available (interpersonal) social support. Significant religion x sex interactions in the prediction of loneliness were observed for several religion variables. Follow-up analyses suggested that our hypothesis was supported with respect to women, but that, for men, religiousness was either unrelated to or positively related to loneliness.