alone (Storr, 1988). Even psychologists have been known to take advantage
of extended solitude. You may recall from Chapter 5 that Carl Jung deliber-ately isolated himself for the better part of 7 years while he explored the con-
tents of his own unconscious. Isolation from others can also be used during
psychotherapy (Suedfeld, 1980, 1982). Volunteers who go through extended
periods of social isolation and sensory restriction often describe the experi-
ence as pleasant and rewarding.
Individual Differences in Preference for Solitude
It seems clear that spending time alone can have both positive and negative
consequences. Solitude can be boring and lonely, or it can bring insight and
a sense of restoration. Whether people dislike or enjoy their time alone maybe a function of their preference for solitude . As with other personality vari-
ables, researchers find people exhibit relatively stable patterns in the extentto which they seek out and enjoy time by themselves (Burger, 1995; Cramer &Lake, 1998; Haans, Kaiser, & de Kort, 2007; Larson & Lee, 1996; Pedersen,
1999). On one end of this individual difference dimension, we have people
who avoid solitude whenever possible and get eaten up by loneliness and sad-ness when forced to spend even a few hours by themselves. People on the other
end of this dimension are more likely to resemble the self-actualized individuals
Maslow described. They appreciate the benefits that come from solitude andprobably arrange their days so they have at least a little time to themselves to
collect their thoughts and reflect on matters that concern them.
In one demonstration of these individual differences, college students
were asked to complete daily reports of their activities for 7 consecutive days
(Burger, 1995). Students filled out a 24-hour report sheet indicating what
they had done each hour of the day, whether they had been alone or with
others, and whether they had found the experience enjoyable. The researcher
also measured students ’preference for solitude. After eliminating time spent
in class, at work, and sleeping, students with a high and low preference for
solitude were compared for how they spent their free time. As shown in
Table 12.3, virtually all the students spent most of their free time with other
people. Thus it is not the case that people who enjoy solitude are hermits
who avoid contact with others. However, the students with a high preference
TABLE 12.3
Free Time Spent by Students with High and Low Preference for Solitude
Preference for Solitude
High Low
Percentage of time spent alone 19.80 11.00
Percentage of time alone rated as pleasant 74.50 55.80Percentage of time with others rated as pleasant 87.30 92.90
Source: From Burger (1995).Solitude 337