From Psychologies · Louise Leboyer · · 1m 30s
Call it me time, not isolation
A new study finds the words you use for time alone change how that time actually feels.
In brief
A new study finds the words you use for time alone change how that time actually feels. When you can't avoid being alone, name it "time for myself" rather than isolation. The label shifts your mood, not just your vocabulary. Originally reported by Psychologies.
Alone is not lonely
There is no threshold of hours alone at which everyone starts feeling lonely. Some people fill every gap with company, others sit happily in the quiet.
Two kinds of lonely
A December 2023 study in the Journal of Research in Personality found no tight link between time spent alone and loneliness. The loneliest people were those with almost no solitude and those with far too much.
Words as the lever
Micaela Rodriguez and Scott W. Campbell asked whether the language we wrap around solitude changes how it feels. Earlier work had shown wording can shift emotional responses under stress.
Five ways to say it
1,500 American adults each rated one phrase for time alone: time for yourself, time alone, solitude, being alone, or isolation. They scored how positive it felt and whether they sought it out.
Thirty minutes, two labels
145 undergraduates spent 30 minutes alone in a place they chose, reading or writing but not socialising. Half were told it was isolation, half were told it was time for themselves.
The label moved the mood
"Time for yourself" scored highest, tied to self-care, relaxation and pleasure. Isolation scored worst. Students given the positive framing left in a better mood, the isolation group in a worse one.
In short
When you can't avoid being alone, name it "time for myself" rather than isolation. The label shifts your mood, not just your vocabulary.
