Buecker and her colleagues found that lonely people tended to be more introverted and neurotic and somewhat less agreeable and conscientious than less lonely people on average.
“This meta-analysis aggregated studies including measures of broader personality traits and loneliness that were conducted over the last 38 years. We found that extraversion (being sociable, assertive, and energetic) was negatively related to loneliness and neuroticism (being moody, nervous, and touchy) was positively related to loneliness,” she told PsyPost.
“But to a lesser extent also agreeableness (being kind, considerate, and generous) and conscientiousness (being organized, responsible, and efficient) were negatively related to loneliness. Openness to experiences did not seem to play an important role in the context of loneliness.”
The researchers also found that being introverted was more strongly related to social loneliness (having a fewer number of friends) than to emotional loneliness (the perceived absence of close attachments.)