{"id":373042,"date":"2019-04-05T16:16:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T20:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=373042"},"modified":"2019-04-16T17:08:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T21:08:11","slug":"college-freshmen-need-alone-time-373042","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/college-freshmen-need-alone-time-373042\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do new college students need alone time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transitioning from high school to college can be stressful. Trying to fit in, making new friends, missing old ones and home, meeting professors\u2019 and one\u2019s own expectations\u2014can all be daunting.<\/p>\n

The way that first-year students manage (or not) to navigate this change has long-term implications for their academic performance and ability to stick with their studies. Research has shown that one frequent pitfall during this transition period from high school to college is social isolation. Loneliness, of course, can have a serious detrimental effect on a student\u2019s mental health, potentially leading to depression.<\/p>\n

But being alone isn\u2019t necessarily\u00a0<\/em>bad, argues a team of researchers from the URochester, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and Ghent University in Belgium. They published their findings\u00a0about the importance of me-time in the journal Motivation and Emotion<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cApproaching solitude for its enjoyment and intrinsic values is linked to psychological health, especially for those who don\u2019t feel as if they belong to their social groups,\u201d says the study\u2019s lead author, Thuy-vy Nguyen<\/a>, who received her doctorate in psychology from the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a> in 2018 and who undertook large part of the research for this study in Rochester.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings highlight the importance of cultivating the ability to enjoy and value solitary time as a meaningful experience, rather than trying to disregard it, or escape from it,\u201d says Nguyen, who\u2019ll be joining the psychology department at Durham University, England<\/a>, this fall as an assistant professor.<\/p>\n

Loneliness versus alone time<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What then marks the difference between useful\u00a0<\/em>and potentially detrimental <\/em>solitude? The key is positive motivation, according to the researchers. A healthy, autonomous seeking of alone time is associated with greater self-esteem, a greater sense of feeling related to others, and feeling less lonely. Conversely, someone who wants to be alone because of negative social experiences will more likely experience the negative effects of solitude, such as isolation or social withdrawal. The reasons matter as they determine how we experience solitude and the benefits we can get from it, the study concludes.<\/p>\n

Nguyen is building on decades of research by her veteran Rochester mentors, Edward Deci<\/a>\u00a0and Richard Ryan<\/a>, co-founders of self-determination theory<\/a> (SDT). The theoretical framework of SDT fits nicely into the investigation of how individuals\u2019 motivations for spending time alone contribute to well-being, the researchers note. Per definition, autonomous motivation for being alone refers to a person\u2019s decision to spend time in solitude in a manner that is valuable and enjoyable for the person.<\/p>\n

Previous research had shown that spending too much time socializing during the first year of college\u2014and as a result having little time for oneself\u2014may be associated with poor adjustment.<\/p>\n

But over the course of two studies, conducted with 147 first-year college students in the US (testing for self-esteem) and 223 in Canada (testing for loneliness and relatedness), the team was able to untangle the interaction between new students\u2019 social life and their motivation for spending time alone as a predictor of their successful adjustment to college life.<\/p>\n

Nguyen says the interplay between solitary time and our social experiences has not been empirically studied before, at least not in this way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn previous research, it has been framed in ways that those with more access to social connections tend to have a better time in solitude. But in our study, having a healthy motivation for solitude actually is associated with wellness for those who have less access to social connections,\u201d says Nguyen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The findings in a nutshell:<\/strong><\/h3>\n