Impact of Educational Qualification on Social Support, Social Isolation and Social and Emotional Loneliness: A Study of Senior Citizens

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the impact of educational qualification on social support, social isolation, and loneliness (social and emotional) among Senior Citizens. De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (1985),Social Support Scale developed by Malik (2002), and Friendship Scale developed by Hawthorne (2006) were used to measure the pertinent constructs of present study. Purposive convenient sampling technique was used to draw the sample of older adults (N = 500) aged 60 to 90 years (M = 67.59, SD = 7.54) from both urban and rural areas of various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Alpha coefficients, for all the variables were computed, which ranged between .60 for social loneliness to .96 for social support total scale. Study found significant differences among the variables. Findings revealed that educational qualification of the sample had a positive impact on their social support and they were less socially isolated as compared to uneducated senior citizens.