Culture and solitude : meaning and significance of being alone.

89 Pages·2015·4.26 MB·English

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Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014
2006
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Yao Wang
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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CULTURE AND SOLITUDE: MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING
A
Thesis Presented
by
YAO WANG
Submitted to the Graduate School ofthe
University ofMassachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
ofthe requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
September 2006
Social Psychology
CULTURE AND SOLITUDE: MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING ALONE
A
Thesis Presented
by
YAO WANG
Approved as to style and content by:
James R. Averill, Chair
Ronnie Janpff-Bulman, Member
Nilanjana Dasgupta, Member
Melinda Novak, Department Head
Department ofPsychology
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First ofall, I would like to thank my advisor, James Averill, forhis patient and
thoughtful guidance and support. Thanks are also due to the members ofmy committee,
Ronnie Janoff-Bulman and Nilanjana Dasgupta, fortheir helpful comments and
suggestions on this project.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to Louise Sundararajan, forher help with
translation and questionnaire development.
I wish to express my appreciation to all the individuals who participated in this
project. Special thanks to William Theis, Ming Shao, and Yongliang Wang for their
efforts in recruiting the participants.
Lastly, a special thank you to all my family and friends in China and the United
States whose support and friendship helped me get through the years in graduate school.
iii
ABSTRACT
CULTURE AND SOLITUDE: MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING ALONE
SEPTEMBER
2006
YAO WANG, B.S., PEKING UNIVERSITY
M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor James R. Averill
Two studies were conducted to explore the nature and benefits ofsolitude in American
and Chinese cultures. As a first step, 20 types ofsolitude experiences were identified
based on informal interviews and past research. Then in the first study, American and
Chinese university students rated how typical and desirable each type ofsolitude was.
Their responses were similar for the most part, but Chinese students rated enlightenment
as more desirable and freedom as less desirable than did American students. Exploratory
factor analyses were performed on the ratings of20 items, and results suggested five
primary factors: Enlightenment, Loneliness, Freedom, Relaxation, and hitimacy. These
factors were correlated with personality measures in meaningful ways. In the second
study, ambiguous pictures ofsolitude in various settings were used. American and
Chinese students were asked to write a short story and answer a set ofLikert-scale
questions for each picture. According to their responses, solitude in nature (e.g., alone on
a beach) was the most beneficial solitude experience, usually determined by choice;
solitude in public places where the norm is not to be alone (e.g., dining alone in a
restaurant) was the least happy and least beneficial experience, usually not determined by
choice. Participants also rated how much they would like to experience the 20 types of
iv
solitude used in Study 1. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on the ratings,
and results indicated that three factors, Enlightenment, Loneliness, and Freedom, were
confirmed. As in Study 1, Chinese students rated Enlightenment as more desirable than
American students. This cultural difference was mediated by the endorsement ofa
culture-specific value, the doctrine ofShendu in Confucianism.
V
CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iii
ABSTRACT
iv
LIST OF TABLES
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
ix
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
1. 1
The Nature and Benefits ofSolitude
1
Expanding the List ofSolitude Experiences 5
STUDY
2. 1 7
Purpose and Predictions 7
Method 9
Participants 9
Materials and Procedure 9
Results and Discussion 11
Frequency ofSolitude Experiences 11
Voluntary and Involuntary Solitude 12
Ideal Solitude 13
Structure ofSolitude Experiences 15
Personality Correlates ofSolitude Experiences 17
3. STUDY 2 20
Purpose and Predictions 20
Method 22
Participants 22
Materials 22
Procedure 22
vi
Results and Discussion..
24
Solitude as Experienced in Four Settings 24
Desirability Ratings ofthe 20 Solitude Items.................' 27
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
27
Relations ofSolitude to Systems ofValues
32
Endorsement ofShendu as a Mediator ofCultural Differences 33
Overall Feelings about Solitude
35
4. GENERAL DISCUSSION
ib
Actual Solitude Experiences
Desirable Solitude Experiences
3^
Settings for Solitude
3^
Limitations and Future Directions
39
Conclusions
40
APPENDICES
A. TWENTY TYPES OF SOLITUDE EXPERIENCES
B. SELF-CONSTRUAL SCALE . 59
61
C. EXPERIENCES IN CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
D. PREFERENCE FOR SOLITUDE SCALE . 62
54
E. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDY
1 55
F. SOLITUDE FACTOR STRUCTURES FOR AMERICAN
AND CHINESE SAMPLES
55
G. SOLITUDE PICTURES USED IN STUDY 2 68
H. LIKERT-SCALE QUESTIONS FOR THE SOLITUDE PICTURES
70
L SCHWARTZ'S VALUE SURVEY
71
J. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDY 2 73
K. COVARIANCE MATRICES FOR AMERICAN
AND CHINESE SAMPLES
74
BIBLIOGRAPHY
76
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
L Means and Standard Deviations ofTypicality Ratings
by American Students
42
2. Means and Standard Deviations ofTypicality Ratings
by Chinese Students
3. Means and Standard Deviations ofDesirability Ratings
by American and Chinese Students
44
4. Factor Pattern Matrix for the Exploratory Factor Analysis
in the Ideal Solitude Condition
45
5. Factor Correlation Matrix in the Ideal Solitude Condition 46
6. Pearson Correlations between Personality Measures and
Solitude Factors for the American Sample 47
7. Pearson Correlations between Personality Measures and
Solitude Factors for the Chinese Sample 48
8. Means and Standard Deviations ofDesirability Ratings
by American and Chinese Students 49
9. Goodness-of-Fit Indices for the CFA Models ofSolitude Experiences
in the American and Chinese Samples 50
10. Estimated Raw and Standardized Factor Loadings for the CFA Models
ofSolitude Experiences in the American and Chinese Samples 51
11. Estimated Factor-Factor Inter-Correlations for the CFA Models
ofSolitude Experiences in the American and Chinese Samples 52
12. Pearson Correlations between Global Values and Solitude Factors
for the American Sample 53
13. Pearson Correlations between Global Values and Solitude Factors
for the Chinese Sample 54
viii