| The goal of this research project was to explore the meaning of solitude in this culture by investigating attitudes, beliefs, and behavior in regard to spending time alone. In Phase 1 of the project, 111 subjects (46 male and 65 female Harvard University students, with a mean age of 20.84) completed a questionnaire on solitude and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). In Phase 2, 50 of the Phase 1 subjects filled out periodic checklists over the course of a week, whenever "beeped" by an electronic pager.;Subjects expressed both positive and negative associations with solitude, including peacefulness, quietness, loneliness, thinking, boredom, relaxation, contentment, freedom, and sadness. In contrast, being with people was associated with fun, happiness, friendliness, noise, liveliness, stimulation, excitement, and anxiety. In addition, subjects indicated that they felt peaceful and depressed more often, and happy less often, when alone.;Scales were developed to measure different types of reasons why individuals might decide at different times to be alone (either because of the benefits of solitude or the difficulties of being with people) or not to be alone (either because of the benefits of being with people or the difficulties of solitude).;With regard to activities, it was found that the preferred way of doing many activities, especially recreational activities, was with others. One major exception to this rule was reading, which most people preferred to do alone.;Scales were developed to measure attitudes toward solitude and being with people. Although there was an obvious negative relationship between preference for doing activities alone and preference for doing activities with people, there was no relationship between one's feelings about being alone and being with people. Males and females did not differ in their attitude toward being with people; however, females had a more positive attitude toward being alone than did males.;Multiple regression was used to examine the predictors of amount of solitude behavior, with variables selected from the categories of attitudes, motive dispositions, and habitual behavior. Preliminary investigations were also begun on stereotypes of solitude-lovers and solitude-haters, and on attitudes and beliefs regarding an intensive one-month solitude experience. |
