Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation

Nguyen, Thuy-vy T.; Ryan, Richard M.; Deci, Edward L.

doi:10.1177/0146167217733073

Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation

Nguyen, Thuy-vy T.; Ryan, Richard M.; Deci, Edward L.

Authors

Dr Thuy-Vy Nguyen thuy-vy.nguyen@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Richard M. Ryan

Edward L. Deci

Abstract

In this research, we showed that solitude generally has a deactivation effect on people’s affective experiences, decreasing both positive and negative high-arousal affects. In Study 1, we found that the deactivation effect occurred when people were alone, but not when they were with another person. Study 2 showed that this deactivation effect did not depend on whether or not the person was engaged in an activity such as reading when alone. In Study 3, high-arousal positive affect did not drop in a solitude condition in which participants specifically engaged in positive thinking or when they actively chose what to think about. Finally, in Study 4, we found that solitude could lead to relaxation and reduced stress when individuals actively chose to be alone. This research thus shed light on solitude effects in the past literature, and on people’s experiences when alone and the different factors that moderate these effects.

Citation

Nguyen, T. T., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(1), 92-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217733073

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Oct 26, 2017
Publication Date	Jan 31, 2018
Deposit Date	Oct 1, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Oct 10, 2019
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Print ISSN	0146-1672
Electronic ISSN	1552-7433
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	44
Issue	1
Pages	92-106
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217733073

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Copyright Statement
Nguyen, Thuy-vy T., Ryan, Richard M. & Deci, Edward L. (2018). Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 44(1): 92-106. Copyright © 2017 by the Society for Personality
and Social Psychology, Inc. DOI: 10.1177/0146167217733073