1. – Henry David Thoreau, in Walden
ALONE NEED NOT BE LONELY: AGE, SOCIAL DESIRES, SOCIAL RESOURCES, AND THOUGHT TENDENCIES BUFFER NEGATIVE ALONE-AFFECT AND SOLITUDE-AFFECT ASSOCIATIONS
Jennifer C. Lay 1, Theresa Pauly 1, Atiya Mahmood 2, Christiane A. Hoppmann 1
1 Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia 2 Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University
Correspondence:
RESULTS
“A man thinking or working, is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows.”
– Henry David Thoreau, in Walden
Hypothesis 1:
Partial support. Current desire to be alone and desire for solitude reduce negative alone-affect associations (sad, calm, lonely), and solitude-affect association (irritated)
Hypothesis 2:
Partial support. Being in a relationship and greater age, social network size, positive relations, social self-efficacy, and self- reflection reduce negative alone-affect associations (happy, sad, calm, satisfied, lonely) and solitude-affect associations (happy, calm, anxious, irritated, satisfied, close to others, lonely)
BACKGROUND
Loneliness has well-documented associations with poor health and wellbeing (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010)
However, individuals spend a substantial portion of their daily lives alone, sometimes choosing this over social interaction (Burger, 1995; Larson, 1990)
Solitude may provide space for relaxation, problem-solving, and self-attunement (Long & Averill, 2003)
Time-sampling research has linked time alone with negative affect but also with positive experiences (e.g. loneliness but also lower self-consciousness) (Larson, 1990)
Lack of conceptual distinction in the literature:
Aloneness - absence of other people (Larson 1990)
Solitude - absence of social interaction (Burger, 1995)
Loneliness - negative emotional response to discrepancy between desired and achieved levels of social relations (Perlman & Peplau, 1981)
Illustrative example Figure 1: Current desire to be alone diminishes negative alone-calm association
b = (1.23), p = .004
b = 0.44 (1.23), p = .721
Illustrative example Figure 2: Greater self-reflection diminishes negative alone-happy association *
b = 1.87 (1.47), p = .202
b = (1.38), p = .096
OBJECTIVES *
Which affective states are associated with momentary aloneness vs. solitude?
Which motivational and individual difference factors might protect against negative affect associations with aloneness and solitude?
HYPOTHESES
Hypothesis 3:
Partial support. Self-rumination increases solitude-affect association (lonely)
Desire for aloneness and desire for solitude  increased positive and decreased negative affect during aloneness/solitude (Burger, 1995; Long & Averill, 2003)
Being in a relationship and greater age, social network size, positive relations, social self-efficacy, and self-reflection  increased positive and decreased negative affect during aloneness and solitude (Larson, 1990; Lay et al., 2016; Long & Averill, 2003; Pauly et al., 2016a, Pauly et al., 2016b)
Greater social anxiety and self-rumination  decreased positive and increased negative affect during aloneness and solitude (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010)
Illustrative example Figure 3: Older age diminishes positive solitude-anxious association
b = 4.80 (1.68), p = .004
b = (1.81), p = .721
Illustrative example Figure 4: Greater self-rumination increases positive solitude-lonely association
b = 1.95 (1.36), p = .152
b = 7.13 (1.44), p = .000
METHODS
Sample (Greater Vancouver Area)
100 community-dwelling adults aged (M = 67 years), 64% F, 56% East Asian, 36% European, 72% college/university-educated
50 university students aged (M = 20 years), 92% F, 42% East Asian, 22% European, 14% South/Southeast Asian * *
Procedure
Participants completed ecological momentary assessments 3 times daily over 10 days using iPods/iPad minis
Training and individual difference measures completed in lab
- current social situation
- desired social situation
demographics
- social resources
- thought tendencies
- positive and negative affect items
Level 1 (momentary level): n = 4571 beeps
Level 2 (person level): N = 150 individuals
Multilevel Models
DISCUSSION
Measures
Momentary measures (within-person):
Current affect (100-point scales)
Positive affect: happy (M = 62.8, SD = 16.3), calm (M = 68.4, SD = 15.3), satisfied (M = 57.3, SD = 20.0), close to others (M = 56.2, SD = 22.3) Negative affect: sad (M = 23.4, SD = 17.2), anxious (M = 31.3, SD = 19.5), irritated (M = 24.7, SD = 17.2), lonely (M = 23.1, SD = 20.2)
Current social situation: a) interacting with others, b) others nearby but not interacting, c) alone
Desired social situation: a) interacting with others, b) others nearby but not interacting, c) alone
Aloneness and solitude are independently associated with overall decreased positive affect and overall increased negative affect, for various distinct affective states
When current social situation and social desires match, negative affective correlates of aloneness and solitude are reduced or even eliminated  reinforces the notion that voluntary solitude may be a positive experience (Burger, 1995; Long & Averill, 2003), and extends this to aloneness
Individuals high in self-reflection are protected from negative affective correlates of aloneness, but not of solitude  using solitude for contemplation may be emotionally protective (Long & Averill, 2003), but only if other people are not physically present
Individuals who are older are protected from negative affective correlates of solitude, but not of aloneness  older adults may be better equipped to deal with solitude: socioemotional selectivity? (Carstensen, 1995; Pauly et al., 2016a)
Being in a relationship, having a large social network and positive relationships, and social self-efficacy protect against certain negative affective correlates of solitude/aloneness (Long & Averill, 2003), but effects are less consistent than for social desires, self-reflection, and age
Tendency for self-rumination, but not social anxiety, magnifies negative affective correlates of solitude (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010)
Current aloneness = Current solitude = or
28%
27%
45%
Desire for aloneness = Desire for solitude = or
We gratefully acknowledge research funding from:
Individual difference measures (between-person):
Demographics: age, gender, ethnicity, education level, relationship status
Social resources: social network size (Antonucci, 1986), positive relations (Ryff, 1995), social interaction anxiety (Fergus et al., 2012), social self-efficacy (Di Giunta et al., 2010)
Thought tendencies: self-reflection and self-rumination (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999)
CONCLUSIONS
This study disentangles aloneness and solitude, revealing distinct affective correlates in daily life
Findings challenge the common conception that being alone or in solitude is lonely, showing under what circumstances and for whom negative experiences may be lessened