Association of professional environment with loneliness and perceived social isolation among individuals in their second half of life

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the association of job-related factors with loneliness and perceived social isolation. More specifically, studies are missing examining how professional environment is associated with loneliness and perceived social isolation. Aim: To examine how the professional environment is associated with loneliness and perceived social isolation (also stratified by sex and age group). Methods: Data were taken from the latest wave of the nationally representative German Ageing Survey 2023 (focusing on individuals aged 43 and older living in private households, n = 3,576, mean age: 68.6 years, SD: 11.1 years, with 52.1% being female). Occupations were grouped into six professional environments (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional professions) grounded on Holland’s model. More than 550 occupations were classified to one of those six categories based on Stuth’s approach. Loneliness and perceived social isolation were quantified using established tools. Results: Our findings revealed that individuals in social (β=-0.08, p < 0.01), enterprising (β=-0.09, p < 0.01), and conventional professions (β=-0.07, p < 0.05) had lower perceived social isolation scores compared to those in realistic professions among the total sample (and particularly among those aged 65 and older); however, no differences in loneliness were observed. Notably, some effects were sex-specific, with men in conventional professions and women in artistic professions experiencing lower perceived social isolation scores. Enterprising professions in particular mainly yielded positive outcomes across groups. Our findings underlined the association between professional environment and perceived social isolation, varying by age and sex. Conclusions: Enterprising professions in particular may assist in avoiding perceived social isolation, pending longitudinal evidence. Studies from other countries are recommended.