Yaşlı Yalnızlığı Çalışmaları Üzerine Metateorik Bir Gözlem

Öz

Bu çalışma, yaşlı yalnızlığı literatürünü, nesnesini doğrudan açıklayan homojen bir bilgi birikimi olarak değil, yaşlılık ve yalnızlığı belirli kategoriler, özne tasarımları ve biyopolitik hizalanmalar aracılığıyla kuran bir tipleştirme alanı olarak dikkate almaktadır. Çalışmada kullanılan metateorik gözlem yaklaşımı; literatürdeki tipleştirme rejimlerini metodolojik inşa, teorik varsayımlar ve normatif ufuk olmak üzere üç düzeyde izlemektedir. İlk düzey, yalnızlığın ölçekler, sınıflandırmalar ve standartlaştırılmış göstergeler aracılığıyla nasıl ölçülebilir bir araştırma nesnesine dönüştürüldüğünü; ikinci düzey, bu ölçümlerin arkasındaki yaşlı özne ve faillik tasarımlarını; üçüncü düzey ise olgusal tanımların bakım, aktif yaşlanma, sosyal katılım, güvenlik ve müdahale gibi normatif hedeflerle nasıl eklemlendiğini sorgulamaktadır. Gözlem, farklı yaklaşımların yalnızlığı azaltma ve yaşlıların esenliğini koruma gibi ortak iyi niyetlere rağmen, birbirinden ayrışan hatta çatışan metodolojik, teorik ve politik sonuçlar üretebildiğini göstermektedir. Bu gerilim, tipleştirmelerin yalnızca fenomenin görünürlüğünü düzenlemediğini; aynı zamanda belirli yaşlı nüfuslarını, risk gruplarını ve sorumluluk biçimlerini üretebildiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma, yaşlı yalnızlığı araştırmalarında temel meselenin tek bir açıklama veya müdahale modelini üstün kılmak değil, kullanılan kategorilerin kurucu sınırlarını ve niyet edilmemiş sonuçlarını metateorik olarak görünür kılmak olduğunu savunmaktadır. Bu nedenle çalışma, ölçüm doğruluğu kadar kavramsal geçerlik, özne failliği ve olgu-norm eklemlenmelerinin refleksif biçimde sorgulanmasını önermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• tipleştirme
• yaşlı yalnızlığı
• kategori rejimleri
• özne tasarımı
• normatif ufuk
• metateorik refleksivite

Kaynakça

1. Archer, R. (2024). Retiring Popper: Critical realism, falsificationism, and the crisis of replication. google scholar Theory & Psychology, 34(5), 561–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543241250079 google scholar
2. Arun, Ö. (2018). Türkiye’de yaşlanma çalışmaları: Dün, bugün, yarın. Mediterranean Journal of google scholar Humanities, 8(2), 41–61. https://doi.org/10.13114/MJH.2018.409 google scholar
3. Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., Eccles, A., Richins, M. T., & Qualter, P. (2021). Loneliness google scholar around the world: Age, gender, and cultural differences in loneliness. Personality and Individual google scholar Differences, 169, 110066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110066 google scholar
4. Beck, E. D., & Jackson, J. J. (2022). Personalized prediction of behaviors and experiences: An google scholar idiographic person–situation test. Psychological Science, 33(10), 1767–1782. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1177/09567976221093307 google scholar
5. Bengtson, V. L., Burgess, E. O., & Parrott, T. M. (1997). Theory, explanation, and a third generation google scholar of theoretical development in social gerontology. The Journals of Gerontology: Series google scholar B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 52B(2), S72–S88. https://doi.org/10.1093/ google scholar geronb/52B.2.S72 google scholar
6. Bilici, M. V. (2026). Dilsel merkez-dışılaştırma, anlatısal kimlik ve yaşlılığın toplumsal konumu: google scholar Türk modernleşmesi üzerinden kuramsal bir tartışma. Senectus, 4(1), 65–98. https://doi. google scholar org/10.26650/senectus.2026.4.1.1145 google scholar
7. Blumer, H. (1954). What is wrong with social theory? American Sociological Review, 19(1), 3–10. google scholar https://doi.org/10.2307/2088165 google scholar
8. Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., & van Heerden, J. (2003). The theoretical status of latent variables. google scholar Psychological Review, 110(2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.2.203 google scholar

9. Boss, L., Kang, D. H., & Branson, S. (2015). Loneliness and cognitive function in the older adult: google scholar A systematic review. International Psychogeriatrics, 27(4), 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1017/ google scholar S1041610214002749 google scholar
10. Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (1999). Sorting things out: Classification and its consequences. MIT google scholar Press. google scholar
11. Bryan, C. J., Tipton, E., & Yeager, D. S. (2021). Behavioural science is unlikely to change the google scholar world without a heterogeneity revolution. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(8), 980–989. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1038/s41562-021-01143-3 google scholar
12. Buffel, T., Phillipson, C., & Scharf, T. (2012). Ageing in urban environments: Developing ‘age-friendly’ google scholar cities. Critical Social Policy, 32(4), 597–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018311430457 google scholar
13. Bugallo-Carrera, C., Dosil-Díaz, C., Anido-Rifón, L., Pacheco-Lorenzo, M., Fernández-Iglesias, google scholar M. J., & Gandoy-Crego, M. (2023). A systematic review evaluating loneliness assessment google scholar instruments in older adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1101462. https://doi.org/10.3389/ google scholar fpsyg.2023.1101462 google scholar
14. Bülow, M. H., & Söderqvist, T. (2014). Successful ageing: A historical overview and critical analysis google scholar of a successful concept. Journal of Aging Studies, 31, 139–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. google scholar jaging.2014.08.009 google scholar
15. Cacioppo, J. T., Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2009). Alone in the crowd: The structure google scholar and spread of loneliness in a large social network. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, google scholar 97(6), 977–991. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016076 google scholar
16. Çevik, E. (2024). Yaşlılığa politik ekonomik yaklaşım: Carroll Estes modeli. Senectus, 2(1), 1–25. google scholar https://doi.org/10.26650/senectus.2024.2.1.0018 google scholar
17. de Jong Gierveld, J., & van Tilburg, T. (2006). A 6-item scale for overall, emotional, and social google scholar loneliness: Confirmatory tests on survey data. Research on Aging, 28(5), 582–598. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1177/0164027506289723 google scholar
18. Derksen, M., & Morawski, J. (2022). Kinds of replication: Examining the meanings of “conceptual google scholar replication” and “direct replication”. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17(5), 1490–1505. google scholar https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211041116 google scholar
19. Dodeen, H. (2015). The effects of positively and negatively worded items on the factor structure of google scholar the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 33(3), 259–267. https:// google scholar doi.org/10.1177/0734282914548325 google scholar
20. Dueber, D. M., Toland, M. D., Lingat, J. E., Love, A. M. A., Qiu, C., Wu, R., & Brown, A. V. google scholar (2022). To reverse item orientation or not to reverse item orientation, that is the question. Assessment, google scholar 29(7), 1422–1440. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911211017635 google scholar
21. Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (2020). A validity-based framework for understanding google scholar replication in psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(4), 316–344. google scholar https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868320931366 google scholar
22. Fakoya, O. A., McCorry, N. K., & Donnelly, M. (2020). Loneliness and social isolation interventions google scholar for older adults: A scoping review of reviews. BMC Public Health, 20, 129. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1186/s12889-020-8251-6 google scholar
23. Formosa, M. (2023). Five decades of older adult learning: Achievements and challenges. International google scholar Journal of Education and Ageing, 5(3), 91–104. google scholar
24. Fraser, N. (1989). Talking about needs: Interpretive contests as political conflicts in welfare-state google scholar societies. Ethics, 99(2), 291–313. https://doi.org/10.1086/293067 google scholar
25. Grove, H. (2026). Ageing well in place: A capability approach. Tijdschrift voor Economische en google scholar Sociale Geografie, 117(1), 10–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.70013 google scholar
26. Hacking, I. (1986). Making up people. In T. C. Heller, M. Sosna, & D. E. Wellbery (Eds.), Reconstructing google scholar individualism: Autonomy, individuality, and the self in Western thought (pp. 222–236). google scholar Stanford University Press. google scholar
27. Hacking, I. (1995). The looping effects of human kinds. In D. Sperber, D. Premack, & A. J. Premack google scholar (Eds.), Causal cognition: A multidisciplinary debate (pp. 351–383). Oxford University Press. google scholar
28. Jasanoff, S. (2004). Ordering knowledge, ordering society. In S. Jasanoff (Ed.), States of knowledge: google scholar The co-production of science and social order (pp. 13–45). Routledge. google scholar
29. Jentoft, E. E. (2023). Technology and older adults in British loneliness policy and political discourse. google scholar Frontiers in Digital Health, 5, 1168413. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1168413 google scholar
30. Jentoft, E. E., Sandset, T., & Haldar, M. (2025). Problematizing loneliness as a public health issue: google scholar An analysis of policy in the United Kingdom. Critical Policy Studies, 19(1), 1–18. https://doi.or google scholar g/10.1080/19460171.2024.2306240 google scholar
31. Katz, S. (2000). Busy bodies: Activity, aging, and the management of everyday life. Journal of google scholar Aging Studies, 14(2), 135–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0890-4065(00)80008-0 google scholar
32. Kaufman, S. R., Shim, J. K., & Russ, A. J. (2004). Revisiting the biomedicalization of aging: Clinical google scholar trends and ethical challenges. The Gerontologist, 44(6), 731–738. https://doi.org/10.1093/ google scholar geront/44.6.731 google scholar
33. Maes, M., Qualter, P., Lodder, G. M. A., & Mund, M. (2022). How (not) to measure loneliness: A google scholar review of the eight most commonly used scales. International Journal of Environmental Research google scholar and Public Health, 19(17), 10816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710816 google scholar
34. Mayrhofer, R., Büchner, I. C., & Hevesi, J. (2024). The quantitative paradigm and the nature of google scholar the human mind. The replication crisis as an epistemological crisis of quantitative psychology google scholar in view of the ontic nature of the psyche. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1390233. https://doi. google scholar org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1390233 google scholar
35. Mund, M., Maurer, L., Schultz, A., & Maes, M. (2025). The measurement of loneliness: An obituary google scholar (and how to move on). In T. Nelson (Ed.), The handbook of loneliness (pp. 41–62). Springer. google scholar Noone, C. (2026). Community loneliness: A critical gerontological perspective of loneliness in google scholar later life. Health & Social Care in the Community, 2026(1), 6698848. https://doi.org/10.1155/ google scholar hsc/6698848 google scholar
36. Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, google scholar 349(6251), aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716 google scholar
37. Özkul, M., & Kalaycı, I. (2015). Türkiye’de yaşlılık çalışmaları. Sosyoloji Konferansları, 52, 259– google scholar 290. https://doi.org/10.18368/IU/sk.98114 google scholar
38. Panayiotou, M., Badcock, J. C., Lim, M. H., Banissy, M. J., & Qualter, P. (2023). Measuring loneliness google scholar in different age groups: The measurement invariance of the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Assessment, google scholar 30(5), 1688–1715. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911221119533 google scholar
39. Peine, A., & Neven, L. (2021). The co-constitution of ageing and technology: A model and agenda. google scholar Ageing & Society, 41(12), 2845–2866. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X20000641 google scholar
40. Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. A. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. In R. Gilmour & S. google scholar Duck (Eds.), Personal relationships in disorder (pp. 31–56). Academic Press. google scholar
41. Peters, G.-J. Y., & Crutzen, R. (2024). Knowing what we’re talking about: Facilitating decentralized, google scholar unequivocal publication of and reference to psychological construct definitions and instructions. google scholar Meta-Psychology, 8, MP.2022.3638. https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2022.3638 google scholar
42. Plouffe, L., & Kalache, A. (2010). Towards global age-friendly cities: Determining urban features google scholar that promote active aging. Journal of Urban Health, 87(5), 733–739. https://doi.org/10.1007/ google scholar s11524-010-9466-0 google scholar
43. Porter, T. M. (1993). Statistics and the politics of objectivity. Revue de Synthèse, 114, 87–101. google scholar https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181156 google scholar
44. Qualter, P., Petersen, K., Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., & Arshad, S. A. (2021). Exploring google scholar the frequency, intensity, and duration of loneliness: A latent class analysis of data from the BBC google scholar Loneliness Experiment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, google scholar 18(22), 12027. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212027 google scholar
45. Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor google scholar structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40. https://doi.org/10.1207/ google scholar s15327752jpa6601_2 google scholar
46. Schimmack, U. (2021). The validation crisis in psychology. Meta-Psychology, 5, MP.2019.1645. google scholar https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2019.1645 google scholar
47. Schnepf, J., & Groeben, N. (2024). The replication crisis as mere indicator of two fundamental google scholar misalignments: Methodological confirmation bias in hypothesis testing and anthropological google scholar oversimplification in theory-building. New Ideas in Psychology, 75, 101110. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2024.101110 google scholar
48. Sireci, S. G. (1998). The construct of content validity. Social Indicators Research, 45(1), 83–117. google scholar https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006985528729 google scholar
49. Sorokin, P. S., & Mironenko, I. A. (2025). The replicability crisis and human agency in the neostructured google scholar world. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 59(1), 12. https://doi. google scholar org/10.1007/s12124-024-09887-z google scholar
50. Waddell, C., Van Doorn, G., Power, G., & Statham, D. (2025). From successful ageing to ageing google scholar well: A narrative review. The Gerontologist, 65(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnae109 google scholar
51. Zeman, Z., & Geiger Zeman, M. (2015). “Young” heart in “old” body: Experiences of ageing from google scholar older persons’ perspective. Etnološka Tribina, 45(38), 72–85. https://doi.org/10.15378/1848- google scholar 9540.2015.38.03 google scholar