Reading may protect older adults against loneliness better than some social activities

A new study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships suggests that engaging in daily reading may help protect older adults against feelings of loneliness. This is particularly true for individuals with very few close friends or family members. The research provides evidence that a regular, engaging solitary routine can act as a practical buffer against social isolation, sometimes offering even greater benefits than participating in organized group activities.

Loneliness is a recognized threat to the physical and mental health of older adults. Health professionals often recommend expanding social networks or joining group activities to combat these negative feelings. However, making new friends or attending social events is not always an option for everyone.

Older adults often face physical limitations, mobility issues, or transportation barriers that make socializing difficult. They may also experience the involuntary loss of spouses or close friends. This leaves them with a shrinking circle of core confidants, who are the people they trust deeply for emotional support.

“Loneliness is a significant issue in later life, often worse for those with very small circles of close confidants. Most advice encourages expanding social networks or joining activities, but this isn’t always feasible due to health, mobility, cost, or access barriers, especially for older adults,” said study author Haosen Sun, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“Indeed, factors that limit social networks, such as health problems and widowhood, can also hinder participation in social activities. We aimed to explore whether everyday activities, particularly solitary ones like reading, which are often overlooked and not seen as obvious solutions, could actually help buffer feelings of loneliness, especially among older adults with limited social networks.”

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. The sample included 31,935 community-dwelling adults aged 54 and older.

The survey measured each participant’s core social network by asking them to list up to seven people with whom they discussed important personal matters over the past year. It also asked participants to rate their overall satisfaction with these social networks on a scale from zero to ten. To measure loneliness, the survey used a standard questionnaire asking participants how often they felt left out, isolated, or lacking in companionship.

Finally, the survey gathered details about the participants’ lifestyles. It recorded how often they engaged in social activities, such as volunteering, attending educational courses, or going to club meetings. It also tracked solitary activities, specifically noting if participants engaged in daily reading or played word and number games like crosswords or Sudoku.

The data revealed that both social and solitary activities were associated with lower levels of loneliness among people with small social networks. The researchers ensured these findings were accurate by accounting for several outside factors.

They controlled for past loneliness, changes in network size, physical health, internet use, and personality traits. Even after adjusting for these variables, the scientists found that maintaining a daily reading routine was linked to lower loneliness scores. This relationship was actually stronger than the benefits observed from participating in monthly social activities.

Many common group activities, such as taking classes or volunteering, did not show a statistically significant protective effect for people with very small networks. In contrast, reading daily provided a consistent buffer against loneliness. The researchers found that being satisfied with one’s existing social network helped explain the relationship between the number of close friends a person had and their level of loneliness.

Participating in social activities tended to increase this network satisfaction, which in turn related to lower loneliness. Reading, however, worked on multiple levels. It was associated with greater satisfaction with a person’s current network, but it also related to reduced loneliness directly. This direct benefit existed independent of how satisfied the person felt about their friends.

“Reading stood out more strongly than many of the organized social activities we measured, such as volunteering, taking courses, and participating in political or community organizations, with club participation as a partial exception,” Sun told PsyPost. However, “daily word and number games did not show a clear protective effect as reading, suggesting that activities that appear to work through similar mechanisms may provide different levels of protection.”

The researchers note that this might happen because reading offers an immersive, emotionally engaging experience known as narrative transportation. Narrative transportation is a psychological state that allows readers to mentally escape their daily constraints and become absorbed in a different world.

“Having fewer close ties is generally associated with increased loneliness,” Sun explained. “However, in this large European sample, we found that older adults with very small networks who reported reading daily also tend to report lower levels of loneliness. The point isn’t that reading replaces relationships. Rather, a regular, engaging solitary routine can be a practical tool that helps some people feel less lonely if their social options are limited.”

“Our findings suggest it may help to develop an enjoyable, cognitively engaging hobby (that is sustainable into older age) early on, as it can serve as a helpful second line of defense against loneliness. This doesn’t have to replace social activities, but it may serve as a useful gap filler when needed, since it is more self-directed rather than dependent on others’ schedules. We also see the potential for unique skills, experiences, and insights derived from enthusiasm to contribute to more engaging and meaningful social interactions, and for activities to accommodate both individual and social settings (e.g., some clubs).”

While the study provides hopeful news for avid readers, the researchers caution that the observed effects were relatively modest, meaning that a book alone cannot completely erase the pain of isolation.

“Reading isn’t a ‘magic cure’ for loneliness,” Sun said. “However, we offer a comparative perspective in which the overall protective benefits of alleviating perceived loneliness from daily solitary routines are equal to, if not greater than, those of participating in social activities monthly or more often. While social activities are associated with higher satisfaction within smaller personal networks, solitary activities can promote network satisfaction and may also speak to aspects of loneliness beyond what network satisfaction captures.

“One plausible explanation is that such a benefit may partly stem from the flexible, immersive, and emotionally resonant nature of reading. Moreover, the patterns were consistent across a large, multi-country sample and persisted after accounting for baseline loneliness, health, depression, personality, and changes in network size. Because reading is relatively low-cost and widely accessible, even modest differences could matter in real-world terms, especially for people who can’t easily expand their networks or increase social participation.”

The data is also observational, which means the scientists cannot prove that reading directly causes a reduction in loneliness. It is entirely possible that severe loneliness reduces a person’s motivation to pick up a book in the first place.

Another limitation is the survey’s definition of a social network, which only counted close confidants rather than casual acquaintances. The survey also lacked specific details about the context of the activities. For example, it did not specify whether a participant was reading completely alone in their living room or sitting quietly alongside others in a public library.

“Next, we aim to explore opportunities to test the underlying mechanisms more specifically,” Sun explained. “For example, we might examine whether the immersive or absorbing nature of an activity, emotional engagement with narratives, or simply having a meaningful daily routine to fill gaps between social interactions helps people cope with loneliness. We are also interested in assessing these factors alongside other accessible, engaging solitary activities (such as the arts and gardening).”

“While we controlled for recent internet use, future research could examine how people use digital tools to understand the roles of social media and smartphones, depending on usage patterns and content preferences, as well as how inclusive formats such as audiobooks support visually impaired populations. In the long term, the goal is to broaden loneliness interventions beyond ‘just socialize more,’ especially for older adults who face real barriers to participation, and tailor barrier- and need-specific strategies.”

The study, “Reading between the ties: Solitary and social activities, network satisfaction, and loneliness in later life,” was authored by Haosen Sun and Markus H. Schafer.