The positive solitude scale (PS): psychometric properties among Chinese older.

BACKGROUND: Positive solitude, taken as a meaningful activity, contributes to the improvement of health, well-being, and quality of life of older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Positive Solitude Scale (PS) among Chinese older to provide a reference for related research. METHODS: A convenience sample of 608 older people from 10 provinces in China was used to conduct the survey. RESULTS: The Chinese version of the PS consisted of 9 items with a unidimensional structure, which could explain 60.91% of the variance. The factor loadings of each item ranged from 0.67 to 0.82, and the communality ranged from 0.44 to 0.68. The confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit (χ2/df = 2.771, RMSEA = 0.076, CFI = 0.972, IFI = 0.972, TLI = 0.959, PNFI = 0.665, PCFI = 0.675). It was found from the criterion-related validity test that PS scores were significantly and positively correlated with Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness scores (r = 0.45 to 0.44); PS scores were significantly and negatively correlated with Short-Form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Ego Depletion Scale (EDS), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2nd Edition (AAQ-II) (r = -0.27 to -0.36). The Cronbach's α coefficient value for the scale was 0.917; the split-half reliability coefficient value was 0.928. In addition, the PS showed cross-gender consistency. CONCLUSIONS: The PS presented favorable psychometric characteristics in older people, which can be used as a valid tool for assessing older people's positive solitude.

Misremembering Solitude: The Role of Personality and Cultural Self-Concepts in Shaping Discrepancies Between Recalled and Concurrent Affect in Solitude.

BACKGROUND: Affect recall is key to psychological assessment and decision-making. However, self-concepts (self-beliefs) may bias retrospective affect reports such that they deviate from lived experiences. Does this experience-memory gap apply to solitude experiences? We hypothesized that individuals misremember how they feel overall and when in solitude, in line with self-concepts of introversion, self-determined/not-self-determined solitude motivations, and independent/interdependent self-construal. A pilot study comparing retrospective to daily affect reports captured over 2 weeks (N = 104 UK university students) provided preliminary evidence of introversion and not-self-determined solitude shaping affect recall. METHODS: In the main pre-registered study, participants aged 18-49 in the UK (N = 160) and Hong Kong (N = 159) reported their momentary affective states and social situations 5 times per day over 7 days, then recalled how they felt over the week. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Individuals higher in self-determined solitude were more prone to retrospectively overestimate their high- and low-arousal positive affect in solitude and showed less overestimation/more underestimation of negative affect in solitude. Higher not-self-determined solitude was associated with overestimating loneliness, and higher interdependent self-construal with overestimating loneliness and energy levels, in solitude. Comparisons based on residence/ethnicity suggest culture influences solitude-seeking and affective memory. Implications for well-being and affect measurement are discussed.

The Effects of Multifaceted Introversion and Sensory Processing Sensitivity on Solitude-Seeking Behavior.

INTRODUCTION: The state of solitude may be desirable and beneficial particularly for individuals who are highly sensitive and introverted. METHODS: To test these predictions, we surveyed a nationally representative US sample of 301 adults and a sample of 99 undergraduates on their levels of sensory processing sensitivity and assessed introversion with the Big Five Inventory and the multifaceted STAR Introversion Scale. Participants then reported the frequency and duration of their volitional solitude, stress levels, and subjective well-being across 10 consecutive days. RESULTS: Results revealed that Social Introversion and sensitivity significantly predicted higher motivations for solitude, both self-determined and not. Thinking Introversion also predicted higher self-determined solitude, but BFI introversion showed no relationship with either motivation. Social Introversion and sensitivity predicted higher frequency of solitude in daily life and longer duration of solitary episodes; BFI Introversion and Restrained Introversion showed the opposite pattern for both outcomes. Finally, stress was positively associated with daily solitude frequency, and in turn, solitude frequency was negatively associated with same-day well-being; there were no interaction effects with personality traits. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that introversion, as measured by the STAR Introversion Scale, and sensitivity contribute significantly to solitary motivation; however, solitude appears to be sought after by people in times of stress regardless of their scores on these traits.

Silence between words: Is solitude important for relatedness?

Chronic loneliness is a risk factor for physical and health problems, in part due to dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system. In contrast, temporary moments of positive solitude (passing good times alone and not feeling lonely) appear to have positive effects on mental health, social life, and creativity, and seems to be a buffer against loneliness. Herein, three ways of how solitude may have positive effects on health and relatedness are discussed, namely effects on enhancement of mind-wandering, interoceptive awareness, and spirituality. Solitude may facilitate (1) activation of the default mode network (DMN) underlying mind-wandering including daydreaming about other people; (2) activation of brain areas supporting interoceptive awareness; (3) deactivation of prefrontal cortex, or deactivation and decreased connectivity of the DMN, giving raise to susceptibility to spiritual experiences. The capacity to handle and enjoy solitude is a developmental process that may be difficult for many persons. Craving for social connections and external stimulation with digital technologies (e.g., internet, smartphones, social media) might be interfering with the development of the capacity for solitude and thereby increasing loneliness; this might be partly due to impaired interoceptive awareness and impaired functional mind-wandering (common in solitude). Congruently, overuse of digital technologies was associated with reduced activity, and reduced gray matter volume and density, in brain areas supporting interoceptive awareness, as well as with decreased connectivity of the DMN supporting creative insights. Solitude has been a relatively dismissed topic in neuroscience and health sciences, but a growing number of studies is highlighting its importance for well-being.

Preference for solitude paradox: The psychological influence of social isolation despite preference.

BACKGROUND: Although a preference for solitude (PS) may mitigate the negative effects of social isolation (SI) owing to the enjoyment of time alone, its impact on mental health and its underlying factors remain unclear. METHODS: An Internet survey was conducted with 9000 individuals aged 20-79 years in September 2023 and the analyses were performed across three generations. SI was defined as contact with non-cohabitating family members or relatives and friends/neighbors less than once a week. The PS scale, which was used to assess whether a person preferred spending time alone, stratified respondents into three PS-level groups. Mental health status was evaluated using the K6 (distress symptoms), the WHO-5 (well-being), and the UCLA Loneliness Score (severity of loneliness) as the main outcomes. The mediation analyses assessed whether troublesomeness in socializing, a potential negative aspect of PS, could explain the association between PS and mental health status. RESULTS: A mixed-design two-way analysis of covariance showed that both SI and PS had significant main effects on all outcomes without interactions across generations, indicating that SI and higher PS were associated with poor mental health status. The association between higher PS and poor mental status was mediated by socializing troublesomeness across generations. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design prevented making causal inferences from the results. Additionally, sampling bias from Internet surveys may limit the generalizability of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed that there is no protective effect of PS on social isolation-related poor mental health. The hassle of socializing may partly explain why people with a higher PS experience poor mental status, including greater loneliness.

Solitude in old age: a scoping review of conceptualisations, associated factors and impacts.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to map the existing scientific research about solitude in older adults, focusing on its conceptualizations, associated factors, and impacts. METHOD: A scoping review was conducted, searching Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Academic Search Complete databases for publications from 1985 until December 2023. RESULTS: Twenty-four studies were included. The main findings suggest a wide-ranging conceptualisation of solitude, with most studies (n = 16) adopting neutral definitions such as "being alone, without communicating with others"; and a subset of studies adopting definitions that alluded to "positive solitude" (as the choice of being with oneself, underscoring potential benefits). Individual characteristics were identified as key associated factors of solitude. Both positive impacts and negative impacts were reported. CONCLUSION: The variability in conceptualisation and impacts likely stems from methodological and theoretical differences in approaching solitude. This underscores the need for additional research to establish a widely accepted conceptual framework. Such consensus could enhance the understanding of the conditions contributing to positive and negative impacts associated with solitude and inform targeted interventions.

Validation of the German version of the 25-item hikikomori questionnaire 25.

OBJECTIVES: The 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) is an instrument developed to measure a condition characterized by extreme social withdrawal that was first described in Japan. This study aimed to translate the HQ-25 into German and validate the German version (HQ-25-G). METHODS: Translation was conducted according to established guidelines. Validation was based on data from a quota sample of individuals living in Germany, ranging from 18 to 74 years old (representing the distribution of age, sex and federal state, n = 5000). Data collection occurred during August and September 2023. We tested reliability, construct validity and concurrent validity. Moreover, HQ-25 scores for key sociodemographic group were reported. RESULTS: Internal reliability for the HQ-25-G was excellent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93). We confirmed the original three-factor model. Moreover, higher hikikomori levels were significantly associated with more depressive symptoms (r = 0.50), more anxiety symptoms (r = 0.45), higher loneliness levels (r = 0.56), higher levels of objective social isolation (r = -0.47), higher levels of perceived social isolation (r = 0.59) and a higher preference for solitude (r = 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: In a large population-based sample (including younger adults, middle-aged adults and older adults), the HQ-25-G version proves to be a psychometrically robust instrument, which is useful for further exploring the phenomenon of hikikomori within the German-speaking population.

Alone but flowing: The effects of autotelic personality and extraversion on solitary flow.

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Flow, a psychological state of intense engagement in and enjoyment of an activity, can arise during both solitary and socially interactive experiences. In the literature, whereas people high in extraversion have difficulty achieving flow in solitude, those with an autotelic personality-a combination of traits that make people prone to flow-readily experience flow in both solitary and interactive conditions. In this pre-registered experiment, we investigated whether autotelic personality mitigates the negative association between solitary flow and extraversion. METHOD: Participants and their romantic partners (final N = 368) played the game Perfection™ in three conditions (order was counterbalanced): alone (solitary condition), in the presence of their partner without interaction (mere-presence condition), and collaboratively (interactive condition). RESULTS: There were independent, positive main effects of extraversion and autotelic personality on flow experience in mere-presence and interactive conditions. However, the positive effect of extraversion on solitary flow was only significant among participants with high (vs. low) autotelic personality. In all conditions, flow experience was associated with greater low-arousal positive affect and lesser high-arousal negative affect. CONCLUSIONS: The findings shed light on the role of personality in promoting solitary flow experiences, and particularly how traits might interact to determine optimal and non-optimal conditions for achieving flow.

Investigating solitude as a tool for downregulation of daily arousal using ecological momentary assessments.

OBJECTIVE: This research explored arousal levels as a motivating factor for solitude-seeking. We hypothesized that solitude becomes more desirable when high-arousal emotions were heightened and individual differences in extraversion and neuroticism would moderate this pattern. METHOD: We tracked individuals' hourly experiences throughout a day. We assessed their high-arousal positive (e.g., excitement) and negative emotions (e.g., tension), whether they were alone or with others, and their preferred situation at the time of the signal. We gathered 4338 surveys from 362 participants, with 103 participants completing all hourly surveys. RESULTS: Preference for and incidence of solitude changed throughout the day. Contrary to our hypotheses, lagged analyses did not indicate high-arousal emotions predicting reports of being alone an hour later. However, individuals were more likely to express a preference for solitude while experiencing high-arousal negative emotions, and less so while experiencing positive emotions. Younger individuals display stronger preference for solitude during experiences of high-arousal negative emotions. Extraversion and neuroticism did not moderate these patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the distinctive appeal of solitude as a space for young adults to deal with negative emotions. We discussed how these findings are connected to existing literature and implications for future research.

Longitudinal Changes in Psychosocial Adjustment Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Adolescents with Differential Patterns of Solitude and Sociability.

Previous research has lacked a comprehensive, longitudinal analysis of characteristics of solitude and sociability, and how they are associated with changes in psychosocial adjustment before and during the pandemic. The current study surveyed 1071 adolescents (Mage = 10.6, SD = 1.69, 49.86% female, age range = 8-14 years at Year 1) over six years (three years before pandemic, three years during pandemic). Piecewise linear mixed-effects analysis showed that adolescents with higher solitude and lower sociability reported improvements in adjustment during the pandemic, whereas adolescents with lower solitude and higher sociability reported declines in adjustment. The findings highlight the importance of considering multiple characteristics of solitude and sociability, as well as contextual factors (e.g., pandemic), to better understand the implications of solitude on adolescent adjustment.

Need satisfaction in daily well-being: Both social and solitude contexts contribute to well-being.

Daily need satisfaction for relatedness (social connection), autonomy (volitional self-congruent action), and competence (self-efficacy) fosters well-being, but those findings primarily reflect experiences during social interactions. A three-week daily diary study (N = 178) explored psychological need satisfaction in two key everyday contexts: solitude and social. Holding constant the benefits of need-satisfying social contexts, autonomy satisfaction during solitude was key to peaceful affect, whereas competence satisfaction during solitude contributed to lower loneliness; both psychological needs in solitude contributed to evaluating the day as more satisfying. Relatedness-deficiency in solitude did not contribute to loneliness; instead, those who were relatedness-deficient in social interactions felt lonely. Further, need satisfaction in solitude compensated for deficient needs in social contexts, reducing loneliness (autonomy and relatedness) and increasing day satisfaction (all needs) when social contexts failed to satisfy needs. Findings suggest daily solitude can shape daily well-being and further attention is needed to understand and ultimately improve everyday solitude.

Changes of Solitude Behaviors among College Students: A Latent Transition Analysis.

Solitude behaviors encompass four types: positive solitude, eccentricity, social avoidance, and loneliness. These four types of solitude behaviors are not entirely independent but can co-occur within individuals. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore latent classes of solitude behaviors, their developmental patterns, and relevant influencing factors among college students. The Solitude Behavior Scale-Short Version was administered to a sample of college students. A total of 417 Chinese students completed a three-time longitudinal paper questionnaire. The data analysis was performed using Mplus 8.0 and SPSS 26.0. Harman's single-factor test, latent class analysis (LCA), and latent transition analysis (LTA) were employed for subsequent analysis. The results revealed three classes: low solitude, moderate solitude, and high solitude, which exhibited temporal changes. Social avoidance and loneliness could facilitate transitions between high solitude and moderate solitude. Females and first-grade students exhibited higher transition probabilities than males and students not in the first grade. The incidence of moderate solitude in the not-first-grade group was significantly higher than that in the first-grade group. Finally, this study offers new insights into the dynamics of solitude behaviors and their association with gender and age.

Changes in adolescents' daily-life solitary experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: an experience sampling study.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent solitude was drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As solitude is crucial for adolescent development through its association with both positive and negative developmental outcomes, it is critical to understand how adolescents' daily-life solitary experiences changed as a result of the pandemic. METHODS: Using three waves of Experience Sampling Method data from a longitudinal study, we compared adolescents' daily-life solitary experiences in the early (nT1=100; MAge=16.1; SDAge=1.9; 93% girls) and mid-pandemic (nT2=204; MAge=16.5; SDAge=2.0; 79% girls) to their pre-pandemic experiences. RESULTS: We found that adolescents with lower levels of pre-pandemic social support and social skills reported wanting to be alone less and feeling like an outsider more at both time points during the pandemic. In the mid-pandemic wave, adolescents with higher levels of pre-pandemic social support and social skills reported decreases in positive affect compared to the pre-pandemic wave. CONCLUSION: This study shows that adolescents' daily-life solitary experiences worsened throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. There should be continued concern for the wellbeing of all adolescents, not only those already at risk, as effects of the pandemic on mental health might only manifest later.

[A post-Covid-19 approach to loneliness and isolation in old age]. / Approche post-Covid-19 de la solitude et de l'isolement au grand âge.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated loneliness and isolation among the elderly, affecting their physical and mental health. The post-Covid-19 approach needs to strengthen early detection of loneliness and isolation while promoting social engagement.

Being close or being alone: How Social ostracism affects solitude preference.

Social ostracism refers to the phenomenon of being excluded from social interactions and not being accepted by society. While previous research has examined its impact on prosocial and antisocial behaviour, few studies have investigated how individuals respond to ostracism by seeking solitude. Therefore, our study aims to explore the association between social ostracism and solitude seeking as well as the potential psychological mechanisms involved. We conducted three studies involving 488 Chinese students (59% female) and found that (a) long-term ostracism experiences positively correlated with preference for solitude, (b) short-term ostracism did not immediately lead to solitude seeking but increased the desire to establish new connections with others and (c) hostile assessment and negative emotions played a chain mediation role in the relationship between social ostracism and solitude seeking. These findings provide new insights and empirical evidence for understanding the relationship between social ostracism and solitude-seeking.

[Development and evaluation of reliability and validity of Japanese version of Positive Solitude Scale].

Objectives　Solitude is a state of being without social contact; it occurs when a person chooses not to interact with others, even when they are in the company of others. It is not necessarily accompanied by negative feelings. In contrast, loneliness, is a psychological state characterized by the feeling of needing the company of others. Most Japanese studies have regarded loneliness as an unpleasant and painful experience. In this study, focusing on solitude, we developed the Japanese version of Positive Solitude Scale (JPSS) developed by Palgi et al. and evaluated its reliability and validity. This scale assesses the "conscious and voluntary decision to be alone as a positive experience."Methods　A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted between May and August 2023, with 700 men and women participants aged 20 years or older living in Ward A, Sapporo. The survey items comprised basic attributes, the JPSS, subjective sense of health, subjective sense of well-being, and depression to verify convergent validity and social network and loneliness to verify discriminant validity. Additionally, principal component and correlation analyses were performed.Results　A total of 245 questionnaires were collected, and 237 valid responses were obtained (valid response rate: 33.9%). The participants' mean age was 58.5±1.2 years and 111 (46.8%) were men; the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the JPSS was 0.92. The principal component analysis revealed that all nine items had principal component loadings above 0.6, with a cumulative contribution of 62.3% to the overall scale. The total scale score was significantly positively correlated with subjective health (ρ=0.210, P=0.001), positive affect (ρ=0.302, P<0.001), and life satisfaction (ρ=0.241, P<0.001). There were no significant correlations among depression, negative affect, social networks, and loneliness.Conclusions　The JPSS is a reliable and valid instrument unaffected by social networks and other social relationships. It is expected to be a promising new scale that can measure perceptions of time as a positive emotion, distinct from loneliness.

Time-savoring moderates associations of solitude with depressive mood, loneliness, and somatic symptoms in older adults' daily life.

Episodes of solitude (being alone and without social interaction) are common in older age and can relate to decreased well-being. Identifying everyday resources that help maintain older adults' well-being in states of solitude is thus important. We investigated associations of daily solitude with subjective and physical well-being under consideration of time-savoring (i.e., attending to positive experiences and upregulating positive emotions). 108 older adults aged 65-92 years (M = 73.11, SD = 5.93; 58% women; 85% born in Switzerland) took part in an app-based daily diary study in 2022. Over 14 consecutive days, participants reported daily solitude, time-savoring, depressive mood, loneliness, and somatic symptoms in an end-of-day diary. Multilevel models revealed that participants reported higher depressive mood and loneliness, but not higher somatic symptoms on days on which they spent more time in solitude than usual. Higher-than-usual daily time-savoring was associated with lower depressive mood, loneliness, and somatic symptoms. Associations of solitude with depressive mood, loneliness, and somatic symptoms were weaker on days on which higher time-savoring than usual was reported. Findings highlight the potential of everyday time-savoring as a resource in older adults in the context of increased solitude.

Older adults experience better affective well-being in solitude: The moderating role of goal for conflict de-escalation.

Older adults report greater affective well-being in solitude than younger adults, but prior findings are based on correlational designs. We aim to examine age differences in affective well-being in solitude using an experimental design and to examine conflict de-escalation as a potential mechanism. In Study 1, 207 participants were randomly assigned to either a solitude or a social interaction condition. In Study 2, 128 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: solitude-escalation, solitude-de-escalation, interaction-escalation, and interaction de-escalation. After a 15-min solitude or social interaction period, they reported their affective experiences. In Study 1, older (vs. younger) adults reported more positive affect overall. This age-related difference was greater in the solitude (vs. social interaction) condition; older adults reported less negative affect than younger adults in the solitude, but not the social interaction, condition. In Study 2, older (vs. younger) participants reported more high-arousal positive affect in the solitude-escalation condition. This difference was not significant in conflict de-escalation conditions. Our studies provide causal evidence of the relationship between solitude and affective well-being and advance our understanding of motivations that explain why older adults maintain better affective well-being in solitude.

Person-specific priorities in solitude.

OBJECTIVE: People value solitude in varying degrees. Theories and studies suggest that people's appreciation of solitude varies considerably across persons (e.g., an introverted person may value solitude more than an extraverted person), and solitude experiences (i.e., on average, people may value some functions of solitude, e.g., privacy, more than other functions, e.g., self-discovery). What are the unique contributions of these two sources? METHOD: We surveyed a quota-based sample of 501 US residents about their perceived importance of a diverse set of 22 solitude functions. RESULTS: Variance component analysis reveals that both sources contributed to the variability of perceived importance of solitude (person: 22%; solitude function: 15%). Crucially, individual idiosyncratic preferences (person-by-solitude function interaction) had a substantial impact (46%). Further analyses explored the role of personality traits, showing that different functions of solitude hold varying importance for different people. For example, neurotic individuals prioritize emotion regulation, introverted individuals value relaxation, and conscientious individuals find solitude important for productivity. CONCLUSIONS: People value solitude for idiosyncratic reasons. Scientific inquiries on solitude must consider the fit between a person's characteristics and the specific functions a solitary experience affords. This research suggests that crafting or enhancing positive solitude experiences requires a personalized approach.