More than Loneliness: The Quest to Understand Social Connection

This chapter explores the multifaceted nature of social connection, moving beyond the dominant framing of loneliness as an individual pathology. It examines how structural factors such as housing affordability, transport infrastructure, urban planning and digital access shape opportunities for connection. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, the chapter identifies eight key frameworks to understand social connection across personal, physical, community and digital spaces. These include dimensions of structure and quality, relational dynamics between agency and structure, social capital theory, cultural contexts, temporal trajectories and synthesized models integrating these approaches. The chapter concludes by offering a comprehensive framework for understanding social connection that bridges individual experiences with broader structural conditions. This framework serves as a foundation for subsequent chapters in the book.