Loneliness is a growing challenge across Europe, impacting individuals of all ages. A recent study reveals that 13% of Europeans feel lonely most of the time, and 35% experience it occasionally. Beyond personal hardship, loneliness strains healthcare systems, leads to lower productivity and shortens life expectancy.
Thanks to the efforts of former MEP Judith Merkies and MEP Evelyn Regner, and many others, loneliness is now on the European Union’s agenda. The European Parliament 2020 pilot project led to the first EU-wide loneliness survey. As a result, in 2023, the Horizon program launched a new initiative to explore its socio-economic impacts.
The Lonely-EU consortium, headed by Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, will begin a three-year project in 2025 to monitor loneliness and develop evidence-based policies to address it at both individual and societal levels.
Drawing on social psychology and advanced modeling, PsyLab will help identify the causes and socioeconomic consequences of loneliness using probabilistic models optimized by machine learning techniques.
Funding: European Union
Research group
Maike Luhmann – Ruhr University Bochum
Hans IJzerman – Annecy Behavioral Science Lab (ABSL)
Patrizia Catellani – Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan
Rob Blaauboer – Fioti
Katarzyna Growiec – SWPS University
Cristiano Vezzoni – Università degli Studi di Milano
Judith Merkies – Vrije Universiteit