Loneliness is an unpleasant, aversive and painful experience that occurs when the network of social relationships of an individual is deficient either in quality or quantity. Research has shown that loneliness is an important indicator of subjective and psychological well-being, which includes purpose in life. On the other hand, there is solitude as a state or situation when we are alone. People who have a high preference for solitude choose to be alone and often perceive the time spent in solitude as a positive experience. Therefore, unlike loneliness, preference for solitude should not be negatively associated with indicators of well-being. Given the above, the aim of this study was to examine the correlation between emotional and social loneliness and the preference for solitude on the one side and the purpose in life on the other side and to determine the differences with regard to gender, year of study (freshmen contrary to students of senior years) and romantic relationship status. 160 students of different study groups from the University of Zadar participated in the study and the results were collected using a paper-pencil questionnaire. The questionnaire was constisted of the following scales: Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale, Adapted Preference for Solitude Scale and Purpose in Life Scale. In this research, greater social loneliness and loneliness in love were found in males compared to females, but no gender differences were found in family loneliness, purpose in life and preference for solitude. Also, students who have a romantic partner experience less loneliness in love, higher purpose in life and have lower preference for solitude compared to students who have not have romantic partner. There were no differences in social and family loneliness due to the status of romantic relationship. Furthermore, freshmen experience greater loneliness in love and have lower preference for solitude than senior students, but there were no differences in social loneliness, family loneliness and purpose in life between freshmen and senior students. Preference for solitude correlated positively and moderately with loneliness in love for both males and females, but did not correlate with other types of loneliness. Furthermore, a moderate negative correlation has been established between all three types of loneliness and purpose in life. Lastly, low negative correlation was found between preference for solitude and purpose in life only among females, while in males no significant relationship was found.