From Our Bureau
Being by yourself—even for just 15 minutes—may decrease your strong positive and negative emotions, and instead reduce stress and induce calm, a new study suggests.
Lead researcher Thuy-vy Nguyen, a doctoral candidate in clinical and social sciences in psychology at the University of Rochester, together with the co-founders of self-determination theory, psychology professors Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, conclude that solitude can lead to relaxation and stress reduction—as long as people actively chose to be alone.
In general, solitude, the research finds, has a lessening effect not only on arousing positive emotions but also strong negative emotions, ultimately leaving people calmer, more relaxed, less angry, and less anxious.
The researchers report their findings in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Previously, the researchers note, alone time has been correlated with social rejection, withdrawal and isolation, shyness, and loneliness. Not so fast, the researchers say.
It’s not a simple matter of good or bad when it comes to the emotional effect of solitude, the researchers write. Instead, they observed that solitude changes the “intensity of our inner experience, both positive and negative.” Alone time accentuates low-key emotions, while dialling down stronger feelings.
Growing up in Vietnam, Nguyen says she enjoyed being alone as a child and teenager. Later, her curiosity was piqued when she realised that solitude was generally characterized as either simply good or bad—with a lot of literature pointing to its negative effects.
In a nutshell, for the deactivating, calming effect to take place a person needs to be alone without any social interactions and without electronic devices. The same calming effect happened when a person was alone and engaged in a quiet activity like reading.
The researchers define solitude as “a psychological experience of being alone without communications, stimuli, activities, or devices that might facilitate virtual communications such as text messaging or social media.”
Autonomy in solitude—being able to choose what to think about or actively choosing to spend time alone—not only buffered against the negative effects of solitude on emotions, but also improved the beneficial effect of solitude on a person’s relaxation and stress levels.
In short—those who sat alone for 15 minutes and chose what to think about, or had positive thoughts experienced the positive effects of solitude: feeling calmer, less angry or anxious, without feeling lonely or sad. They also did not lose any of their feelings of enthusiasm or excitement.
