Abstract

Divorce represents a critical life transition profoundly influencing emotional stability and social connectedness globally. This study examined the impact of marital status and gender on loneliness and psychological well-being among adults in selected cities of Jharkhand, India. The sample comprised eighty participants, including forty married and forty divorced individuals, equally distributed by gender, recruited from Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, and Dhanbad using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using the Perceived Loneliness Scale developed by Jha in 1997 and the Psychological Well-being Scale by Sisodia and Choudhary in 2012. Statistical analysis involved independent samples t-tests and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. Results revealed that divorced individuals reported significantly higher loneliness scores and lower psychological well-being compared to their married counterparts at 0.01 level. Furthermore, significant gender differences emerged, with females experiencing greater loneliness and males demonstrating higher overall well-being levels. A very strong negative correlation was found between loneliness and psychological well-being, indicating that increased isolation corresponds directly with diminished mental health outcomes. These findings highlight the protective role of marital stability and the necessity for targeted counseling interventions for divorced populations, particularly women, to foster resilience and improve overall quality of life within the Indian cultural context. Also, Policymakers must prioritize mental health support systems immediately. Future research should explore longitudinal effects to understand causal relationships better across diverse Indian populations effectively.