Breaking the monotony of solitude: a self-determination theory perspective

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, 2018.Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of controlling versus autonomy-supportive social contexts on individuals’ motivation for spending time alone by themselves, and their experiences during it. In Study 1, the participants were randomly assigned either to a condition that received their instructions in a controlling and pressuring manner, or to a condition that received their instructions in a way that supported their autonomy for being alone. In Study 2, a neutral condition was added, and audio recordings of the instructions were used to ensure that the manipulation would be constant across research assistants. Study 2 consisted of 3 parts. First, the participants were instructed to sit alone for 15 minutes. Then, they were introduced to a relatively boring activity that involved sorting pencils into boxes for 5 minutes. Finally, the participants were asked to sit alone again for another 10 minutes, but this time they could either sit alone or sort more pencils. The last 10-minute alone period was called the freechoice solitude. Those in the controlling condition reported significantly lower autonomous motivation for being alone, compared to the autonomy-supportive or the neutral conditions. There were no differences between the autonomy-supportive and the neutral conditions. Participants in the three conditions did not report significantly different levels of positive experiences during the 15-minute solitude. However, those felt that the free-choice solitude was significantly more enjoyable and exciting in the autonomy-supportive condition compared to those in the controlling condition. The participants in the neutral and autonomy-supportive conditions were also more likely to sit with themselves for the whole 10 minutes compared to the controlling condition. Those in the controlling condition in fact sorted significantly more pencils during the free-choice solitude than did those in the other two conditions, but their engagement with the pencil-sorting activity was not a function of their enjoyment of the task. Overall, the findings demonstrated that when people were forced to sit alone with themselves, they derived little enjoyment of solitude and were more likely to try to escape from it by engaging in even a boring task