Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA) Test

For readers who feel disconnected but cannot tell whether the strain is mainly social, familial, or romantic, this loneliness assessment organizes those experiences. The Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA) Test is intended for people who want to examine loneliness across social, family, and romantic relationships. Its profile shows how the three domains are represented, indicating where perceived connection, support, or belonging may be more limited.

What This Assessment Explores

The questionnaire treats loneliness as relational, not as one undifferentiated feeling. Questions address belonging, support, closeness, satisfaction, and connection with friends, family, or a romantic partner. The social domain helps show where loneliness is more prominent in friendship, group belonging, and wider social connection.

The result has three domain scores:

• Social Loneliness (14-98) measures social integration and perceived belonging; Low 14-46 and High 47-98 are the displayed bands.
• Family (11-77) measures perceived isolation or limited support in family relationships; Low 11-32 and High 33-77 are the displayed bands.
• Romantic Loneliness (12-84) measures dissatisfaction with intimate connection or absence of a close partner; Low 12-58 and High 59-84 are the displayed bands.

Together, the domains form a loneliness profile showing where connection feels available and unmet needs are more prominent. They describe perceived relationships when responding, not a fixed identity.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each item uses a seven-point agreement scale, from strong disagreement to strong agreement, with a middle option such as unsure or neither agree nor disagree. Responses are grouped into the domain score, and the displayed low/high bands describe the result rather than functioning as clinical cutoffs. This focus on emotional loneliness emphasizes perceived closeness and support, not merely the number of contacts; in that sense, the result is a relationship loneliness measure rather than a count of social contacts.

SELSA distinguishes social loneliness from emotional loneliness in close relationships. This questionnaire is conceptually consistent with SELSA’s three-domain structure, but it is not presented as an adaptation or as a validated or standardized version of SELSA. A later 2004 study examined a separate short SELSA form; the study concerns that short form, not this 37-item online questionnaire.

Interpret the profile in context: self-reported answers can be shaped by mood, recent events, expectations, and willingness to disclose. A higher score may indicate greater perceived loneliness in that domain, but it does not identify the cause or describe a permanent trait.