A new study suggests that isolation is often seen as a feeling of loneliness, but it, in fact, relieves the pressures of modern life and can help people feel more free.
The researchers followed 178 adults aged 35 and over in the United Kingdom and the United States for up to 21 days.
Using daily diaries, the team recorded time spent alone versus interacting with others.
Participants also reported daily measures of stress, life satisfaction, independence, and loneliness.
The results showed that there was no clear optimal balance between solitude and social time, and there was no such thing as spending the “right” number of hours in solitude. Spending more hours alone was associated with increased feelings of reduced stress, suggesting the calming effects of isolation.
The study shows that spending more time in isolation is also linked to feeling free to choose and be yourself.
Isolation is not entirely good, as people generally feel more lonely on days when they spend more time alone than usual. But this was not the case for those who regularly spent a greater amount of time alone. Therefore, researchers conclude that isolation is only annoying if the person has not personally chosen to remain alone.
Negative effects were reduced or nullified when isolation was driven by personal choice rather than imposed by external factors.
This means that many people can spend hours happily alone without any impact on their health.
Professor Nita Weinstein, from the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, lead author of the study, said: “The pandemic-enforced lockdowns have highlighted many of the long-term effects that can occur when we thirst for interaction with others. However, this study highlights "On some of the benefits that isolation can bring."
The researchers noted that the results of their study contradict the common stereotype that people who are often alone are “lonely people.”