Loneliness and Solitude Essay

Humans are social animals. Having a relationship with others is one of the most important and enjoyable aspects of the lives of people. Relationships and social interactions have a big role and impact on our psychological well-being and happiness. On the other hand, isolation from other people is sometimes exercised by parents, teachers, and prison officials as a form of punishment to give someone a lesson.

Withdrawing oneself around people to have alone time is not a bad thing. Perhaps, it may have positive effects depending on how people utilize it, and this is called solitude. As eloquently stated by the Oxford English Dictionary, solitude predominately is “The state of being or living alone; loneliness; seclusion; solitariness (of persons)”. The conception of solitude used in this article is compatible with “being or living alone,” “seclusion,” and “solitariness”; be that as it may, to keep the research within limits and to avoid confusion, we make a distinction between “solitude” and “loneliness” and restrict discussion to the former. This restriction is in keeping with the way many people visualize solitude, emphasizing the benefits of time alone. Contrary to solitude, loneliness is generally seen as a negative emotional state that most people seek to avoid; it indicates deficiencies in the number or extent of one’s social relationships (e.g., Marcoen & Goossens, 1993; Peplau & Perlman, 1982; cf., Wood, 1986). The excruciating nature of loneliness, as well as the relationship between loneliness and psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression, may account for the relative prevalence of psychological research devoted to loneliness as opposed to solitude.

Coplan & Bowker, (2014) analyzed that, solitude does not just happen as a stand-alone experience. Rather, solitude is often conflated with other psychological experiences that occur along with the act of being alone, such as social rejection, social withdrawal, social isolation, shyness, or loneliness. As argued by Long, Seburn, Averill, and More, (2003) they found more positive experiences when people used solitude for privacy, relaxation, self-reflection, creative pursuits, and emotional regulation. Thus, it is clear that solitude has some varied effects on affective experiences. Additionally, solitude is often used to be a sign of a type of privacy. To dig deeper, privacy usually refers to an ability to control the degree to which other people and institutions intrude upon one’s life (e.g., Pedersen, 1999; Westin, 1967). As a subtype of privacy, solitude refers to a condition in which a person is alone and unobserved but not necessarily separated by intimidating barriers or great distance from others (e.g., Marshall, 1972; Westin, 1967). People’s reaction to solitude has been studied under a variety of labels. Most commonly, researchers have referred to time spent away from others as privacy, although this term has been used in many different ways by researchers and theorists from a large number of disciplines. (Altman, 1975; Margulis, 1977; Westin 1967).

To summarize, the paradigm experience of solitude is a state characterized by disengagement from the immediate demands of other people—a state of reduced social inhibition and increased freedom to select one’s mental or physical activities. Such a state is typically experienced when a person is alone. However, aloneness is not a necessary condition for solitude: A person can experience solitude while in the presence of others, as when “alone” in the company of strangers or when an intimate couple seeks solitude for togetherness. These latter are peripheral cases of solitude, but not less important because of that. In this article, for clarity’s sake, we use solitude primarily in its paradigmatic sense of being alone. Where relevant, we also include a discussion of more peripheral instances of solitude.

Individuals utilize solitude because it produces opportunities not offered by our usual social environment to engage in activities or thoughts that we find innately interesting. The experience of solitude is found everywhere across life and researchers have examined the causes, consequences, and costs/benefits of spending time alone. As studied by Coplan, Ooi, and Nocita (2015) one area of focus for developmental psychologists has been social withdrawal, the process whereby some individuals spend more time in solitude than their age mates because they tend to remove themselves from opportunities to interact with peers (in contrast with being actively excluded by peers). Given that the peer group is an important and unique context for a person’s social, emotional, cognitive, and moral development, individuals who spend more time alone may lack interactions with peers that are appropriate for their age. However, social withdrawal itself can be experienced out of nowhere. In short, every individual has different reasons for choosing solitude—and these in turn yield different implications for a person’s well-being.

The most widely used theoretical model identifies three subtypes of social withdrawal, distinguished by distinct combinations of a person’s social approach and social avoidance motivations: (a) shyness (high approach, high avoidance); (b) unsociability (low approach, low avoidance); and (c) social avoidance (low approach, high avoidance).

Solitude usually denotes aloneness, many people experience feelings of intimacy while in solitude. The poet Lord Byron (1812/1996) described solitude as the place “where we are least alone” (p. 445); similarly, during his stay at Walden, Thoreau (1854/1981) wrote, “I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls” (p. 206); and in Paradise Lost, Milton (1667/1991) observed that “solitude sometimes is best society” (p. 529). Observations such as these are more common than might be expected. Based on interviews, examples from novels and popular songs, and analysis of dictionary definitions, Nisenbaum (1984) found that solitude often involves feelings of connection with another person.

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Although empirical research on the phenomenon is sparse, several theorists have attempted to explain the association between solitude and intimacy. As will be described more fully in a subsequent section on life-span development, Winnicott (1958) contended that, as an infant, one must learn to be alone in the presence of a caregiver to develop the capacity to be alone as an adolescent or adult. To avoid later loneliness and anxiety, one must take the supportive environment provided by the caregiver and introduce it, or build it into one’s personality structure. For this reason, Winnicott argued that the person who has developed the capacity to be alone is never truly alone. Rather, a presence unconsciously equated with a parental, caregiving context is always available. (One can view many children’s use of such transitional objects as teddy bears and blankets as an attempt to physically render such a caregiving presence.)

Among the potential benefits of solitude, it also provides relief from the pressures involved in interacting with other people. This is a “negative” benefit, that is, a retreat from an unpleasant situation. If the retreat is motivated by social anxiety or depression, as it sometimes is, there is an obvious danger of exacerbating a preexisting maladaptive condition. (Recall that Burger’s, 1995, Preference for Solitude Scale is moderately correlated with the trait of neuroticism.) Our concern in this review, however, has been with the “positive” benefits of solitude that even the most well-adjusted individual might seek. These positive benefits, too, are not without danger. Solitude can be addictive.

Regardless of the motivation for solitude, a decrease in immediate social interaction may lead to disengagement from the concerns of others. Therefore, one may assume that spending much time alone could develop ever-increasing disengagement and eventual chronic social withdrawal.

Turning to more mundane experiences of solitude, studies indicate that the types of solitude encountered in everyday life can be associated with negative states of affairs, even when experienced positively at the moment. For instance, Larson et al. (1982) found that adults who felt in a more positive mood while alone than while with others tended to experience more negative moods across all situations. Likewise, feeling greater ease of concentration while alone was related to feeling more negative moods overall. Stated differently, when affect and attention improve markedly while alone, it may be a sign that a person’s interactions with others are suffering. Contrariwise, Larson, et al. (1982) found that the people who had the most positive average moods were those who reported feeling the worst while alone.

Findings like these make intuitive sense: Whereas decreased social demands may facilitate creativity and other positive benefits, many theorists argue that social contact helps us maintain our sense of reality and protect our consciousness from descending into chaos (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; see Baumeister & Leary, 1995, for a brief review of other consequences of social disconnectedness.) However, other research reviewed by Larson (1990) failed to find any conclusive relation between the amount of time adults spent alone and psychological well-being.

To summarize, although the data are often conflicting, solitude is not without its dangers, even when—or particularly when—the immediate benefits are experienced positively. That is, solitude can serve as an attractive contrast to distraction and anxiety for those finding it difficult to thrive in their particular social environments. However, for people suffering from social anxiety, solitude does not appear to be habit-forming; for most individuals, its potential benefits far outweigh its dangers.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to generate knowledge and create understanding about the Tarlac State University (TSU) students in the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) regarding their Preference of Solitude in connection to their Social Interaction. This study will provide better insights into how students can cultivate and optimize positive solitude experiences in human life. College students are targeted because they are in a transition period from adolescence to adulthood.