In short, it would be difficult to maintain that longer marriages result in greater feelings of loneliness upon the death of a spouse due to the fact that it would be hard to separate out these other contributing factors. A long term healthy marriage will produce much grief when terminated, but the same personal qualities which contributed to the health of the marriage will also enable the surviving spouse to effectively deal with aloneness. On the other hand, a long term unhealthy marriage may be terminated with feelings of relief and new found freedom, increased social opportunities and involvement, or it may result in tremendous loneliness because of the lack of relational skills.
Consequently, the health of a marriage relationship, regardless of its length, is the most likely determining factor to decide whether or not the surviving spouse will experience severe loneliness.
|