Abstract

Moving, a universal life experience, often induces psychological distress during the adjustment to unfamiliar environments. The disconnection from established close relationships is particularly recognized as a significant risk factor for loneliness. However, moving also provides an opportunity to enrich one’s life. It seems thus plausible that the adverse influence of moving may differ depending on individuals’ readiness to embrace change. Drawing from contemporary research on ‘psychological richness,’ which involves novel, complex, and perspective-changing life events, even if not inherently positive, we hypothesized that frequent moves may exert a less adverse influence on individuals living a psychologically rich life. Across two studies, we examined whether psychological richness mitigates the link between residential mobility and loneliness. As expected, frequent moves (during childhood in Study 1; during adulthood in Study 2) were associated with increased loneliness among individuals with relatively lower psychological richness. However, this association disappeared among those with higher levels of psychological richness. Moreover, the moderating effect of psychological richness remained significant even after controlling for relevant variables, including gender, age, and the Big 5 personality traits. Our study offers a valuable contribution by unveiling a novel protective factor that alleviates the loneliness tied to personal moving experiences.