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Terms & References

Core Concepts​

Emotions​

  • Rodriguez, M., Pratt, S., Bellet, B. W., & McNally, R. J. (2025). Solitude can be good—If you see it as such: Reappraisal helps lonely people experience solitude more positively. Journal of Personality, 93(1), 118-135.

Alone​

  • Nguyen, T. V. T., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Solitude as an approach to affective self-regulation. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 44(1), 92-106.

Aloneliness​

  • Coplan, R. J., Hipson, W. E., Archbell, K. A., Ooi, L. L., Baldwin, D., & Bowker, J. C. (2019). Seeking more solitude: Conceptualization, assessment, and implications of aloneliness. Personality and Individual Differences, 148, 17-26.

Solitude​

  • Oliveira, J., Guerra, S., Sousa, L., & Ribeiro, O. (2024). Solitude in old age: a scoping review of conceptualisations, associated factors and impacts. Aging & Mental Health, 29(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2379408

Social Withdrawal​

  • Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., & Bowker, J. C. (2009). Social withdrawal in childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 141–171.

Self-Transcendence Theory​

  • Reed, P.G. (1991). Toward a nursing theory of self-transcendence: Deductive reformulation using developmental theories. Advances in Nursing Science, 13(4), 64-77.

Social Convoy Model​

  • Antonucci, T. C., Ajrouch, K. J., & Birditt, K. S. (2014). The convoy model: Explaining social relations from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 82-92.
  • Gerotranscendence
  • Loneliness
  • Ego Integrity
  • Social Isolation

Measurement Tools​

Solitude Measures​

  • McVarnock, A., Cheng, T., Polakova, L., & Coplan, R. J. (2023). Are you alone? Measuring solitude in childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1179677.
  • Luo, M., Pauly, T., Röcke, C., & Hülür, G. (2022). Alternating time spent on social interactions and solitude in healthy older adults. British Journal of Psychology, 113. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12586
  • Nikitin, J., Rupprecht, F. S., & Ristl, C. (2022). Experiences of solitude in adulthood and old age: The role of autonomy. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 46(6), 510-519. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254221117498
  • Palgi, Y., Segel-Karpas, D., & Ost Mor, S. (2021). Positive Solitude Scale: Theoretical Background, Development and Validation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 3357–3384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00367-4

Motivations for Solitude​

  • Bowker, J. C., Richard, C. L., Stotsky, M. V., Weingarten, J. P., & Shafik, M. I. (2023). Understanding shyness and psychosocial difficulties during early adolescence: The role of friend shyness and self-silencing. Personality and Individual Differences, 209, 112209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112209

Social Withdrawal Measures​

  • Markovic, A., & Bowker, J. C. (2017). Friends also matter: Examining friendship adjustment indices as moderators of anxious-withdrawal and trajectories of change in psychological maladjustment. Developmental Psychology, 53(8), 1462–1473. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000343
  • Oh, W., Rubin, K. H., Bowker, J. C., Booth-LaForce, C., Rose-Krasnor, L., & Laursen, B. (2008). Trajectories of social withdrawal from middle childhood to early adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(4), 553-66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9199-z
  • Rubin, K. H., Burgess, K. B., & Coplan, R. J. (2002). Social withdrawal and shyness. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development (pp. 330–352). Blackwell Publishing.

Social Isolation Measures​

Self-Transcendence Measures​

  • Reed, P. G. (2009). Demystifying self-transcendence for mental health nursing practice and research. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 23(5), 397-400.

Gerotranscendence Measures​

  • Tornstam, L. (1994). Gerotranscendence: A theoretical and empirical exploration. In L.E. Thomas & S.A. Eisenhandler (Eds.) Aging and the religious dimension (pp. 203-225). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
  • Abreu, T., Araújo, L., & Ribeiro, O. (2023). How to Promote Gerotranscendence in Older Adults? A Scoping Review of Interventions. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 42(9), 2036-2047. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648231169082

Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory​

  • Levenson, M. R., Jennings, P. A., Aldwin, C. M., & Shiraishi, R. W. (2005). Self-transcendence: conceptualization and measurement. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 60(2), 127-43. https://doi.org/10.2190/XRXM-FYRA-7U0X-GRC0

Narrative Identity Indicators​

  • Reischer, H. N., Roth, L. J., Villarreal, J. A., & McAdams, D. P. (2021). Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults. Journal of Personality, 89(2), 305-324. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12583

Yaden Scales​

  • Yaden, D. B., Haidt, J., Hood, R. W., Vago, D. R., & Newberg, A. B. (2017). The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience. Review of General Psychology, 21(2), 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102