Predicting the Feeling of Loneliness Based on Perceived Social Support, Satisfaction with Life, and Religious Attitude in Non-Indigenous Students Living in Dormitories

Background: Changes in the university course can create a cluster of diverse emotions in addition to feelings of excitement and expectation, such as loneliness and disappointment, in students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of perceived social support, life satisfaction, and religious attitude with the feeling of loneliness in students.

Methods: The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of all non-indigenous students residing in Rasht city dormitories in the academic year 2016-2017. Using multistage cluster sampling method, 160 subjects were selected and answered the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Serajzadeh’s Religious Attitude Questionnaire, the Satisfaction ‎With Life Scale (SWLS), and UCLA Loneliness Scale (1996). Data were analyzed using regression and Pearson correlation in SPSS software.

Results: The findings showed that perceived social support, life satisfaction, and religious attitude had a relationship with the feeling of loneliness (P < 0.01). In addition, the results showed that perceived social support, life satisfaction, and religious attitude could explain 33% of the variance in the feeling of loneliness (criterion variable).