Abstract
This study examined (1) the applicability of Weiner (1979)'s model of causal attributions to explain causes of loneliness, a domain of affiliational behavior, (2) attributional styles of lonely persons about themselves and about others, and (3) the effect of the antecedent attribution. Three hundred and twenty-four male students were given the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and asked to rate the causes of their own loneliness and the loneliness of others. The main results obtained here were as follows: 1) For each self- and others-rating, the factor analysis on sixteen causal items found four factors which corresponded with four elements that were obtained by internality and stability dimensions. 2) Lonely persons made less internal and stable attributions about themselves, and made more internal and stable attributions about others than non-lonely persons. 3) In the cases with the antecedent attribution, lonely persons made more internal and stable attributions about themselves, and made more external and stable attributions about others. Non-lonely persons made much more external and stable attributions about themselves.
