Social connectedness to ontological well-being: mediating role of loneliness and death anxiety

Abstract

Social connectedness, loneliness, and death anxiety are essential variables that affect our well-being. No specific study has explicitly examined how they influence each other and their impact on ontological well-being. Within the scope of the study, we aimed to investigate the mediating role of loneliness and death anxiety in the relationship between social connectedness and ontological well-being. The study included 396 participants from Turkey, and data was collected using the Social Connectedness Scale, UCLA-8 Loneliness Scale, Templer Death Anxiety Scale, and Ontological Well-being Scale. The study results were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that social connectedness exerts a direct and indirect role in ontological well-being through the serial mediators: loneliness and death anxiety. Furthermore, loneliness also demonstrates a direct and indirect role in ontological well-being via death anxiety. The results are discussed in the context of the relevant literature.