1. The value of solitude in daily well-being: A Self-determination perspective
Thuy-vy Nguyen, M.A.
Richard Ryan, Ph.D.
Edward Deci, Ph.D.
University of Rochester

2. What we already know?
We generally find time alone to be lonely, “slow”, and not exciting.
Too much time alone could be associated with poor adjustment.
Larson, 1990; Larson, 1997; Larson, Zuczanek, & Mannell, 1985

3. What we already know? Not all alone time is lonely.
Alone time during adolescence is a “developmental necessity”.
Buchholz & Catton, 1998; Galanaki, 2004;
Goossens, Lasgaard, et al, 2009; Winnicott, 1959

4. What we already know? Time alone can be positive depending on…
Age (Larson, 1990)
Types of activities (Long & Averill, 2003; Long, More, & Averill, 2006; Long, Seburn, Averill, & More, 2003)
Personality (Burger, 1995; Leary, Herbst, & McCrary, 2003; Pedersen, 1979)

5. Questions have yet to be answered…
Q1. Does solitude affect our daily well-being? How?
Q2. When does solitude contribute positively to our daily well-being?

6. Autonomy for spending time alone
Experience of choice through internalization (Ryan & Deci, 2000)
Chua & Koestner (2008)
Controlled motivation:
“I’m forced by some external factor such as my work or pressure from parents to spend time alone”
Autonomous motivation:
“I find it enjoyable to be in my own company”
“I think it’s important that I have time to myself”
When people spend a larger part of their day alone, they grew lonelier and less well when alone time was spent for controlled reasons, but not when it was spent for autonomous reasons.

7. Daily Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction
(Autonomy + Competence + Relatedness)
Length of time spent alone relative to one’s own baseline
Perceiving high autonomy for spending time alone
Perceiving low autonomy for spending time alone

8. Targeting the Experience of Solitude
Experiencing solitude in and of itself in the absence of any social stimuli or social obligations
For this exercise, you will be asked to spend time by yourself for 15 minutes. In those 15 minutes, we ask that you stay awake, stay away from any electronic devices that might facilitate social interactions, simply be by yourself and experience this time IN AND OF ITSELF, NOT along with any other activities, that is, NOT when you are eating, watching TV, exercising, reading, or studying, etc.

9. A-B-B-A design Week 1 Week 2 Group 1 Group 2 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
15-minute of solitude each day
Well-being survey
at the end of the day
Only well-being survey
at the end of the day
15-minute of solitude each day
Well-being survey
at the end of the day
Only well-being survey
at the end of the day

10. Below are the reasons why different people choose different time in their day to be by themselves. Please indicate the extent to which you felt that the following statements applied to you.
Autonomous reasons:
Because I simply enjoy the time to be by myself
For the pleasure of spending time by myself
Because I find the time I spend by myself to be important and beneficial for me
Because it is personally important to me to have some time by myself
Controlled reasons
Because I would feel bad about myself if I didn’t do it
Because I felt pressured to be by myself
Because I was told to do be by myself
Because I worried that I would get in trouble with others if I did not

11. Q1. Does Solitude Affect our Daily Well-being?
Yes
Day-level variables B
SE.b t p
Vitality
L1: 15-min solitude (o/1)
-.32
.16
-1.96
.05
L1: Week (0/1)
-.21
-1.25
.21
L1: Solitude x Week
.20
.32
.62
.53
Activated NA (Anxiety, Angry, Afraid)
L1: 15-min solitude
-.29
.09
-3.14
.002
L1: Week
-.26
-2.76
.006
.40
.18
2.20
.03
Activated PA (Interested, Excited, Happy, Open, Energized)
-.41
.12
-3.44
.001
-.34
-2.86
.005
.47
.23
2.03
.04

13. Q2. When does solitude contribute positively to our daily well-being?
15-minute solitude
Moderation effect of choice for solitude
Life Satisfaction ✔
Vitality
Basic Psychological Needs
Need for Autonomy
Need for Competence
Need for Relatedness
Affect
Activated Negative Affect
Activated Positive Affect
Low Arousal Negative Affect
Low Arousal Positive Affect

14. ***

15. ***

16. ***

17. **

18. p = .05
p = .05

21. Discussion Q1. Does solitude affect our daily well-being? How?
Yes. Deactivating effect.
Q2. When does solitude contribute positively to our daily well-being?
Internalizing the value of solitude

22. Wilson et al. (2014). Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind. Science, 345 (6192),

23. Thank you!

25. Alone “doing” vs. Alone “thinking”
Alone “doing” (N=50)
Alone “thinking” (N=53)
Self-relevant
3.70
5.55
Frequent
2.94
4.79
Important
3.52
5.02
Self-central
2.82
3.81
Intense emotions
3.02
4.09
Goal-oriented
3.72
4.66
Detailed
4.48
6.28
Enjoyable
4.02
4.72
In the present moment
5.19
3.91
No significant difference between conditions on changes in stress and anxiety levels, and mood.

26. Activity codes Disqualified:
Did the person mention “sleeping” or “napping” or “falling asleep”?
Did the person mention eating a main course?
Did the person mention being actively engaged in another task?
Did the person mention surfing the Internet, Facebook, Instagram, or any social media sites?
Did the person mention interacting with someone else?