Danvers and colleagues looked into the relationship between spending time alone and feeling lonely. They learned that “spending more than 75% of time alone was associated with much higher loneliness scores. . . . people who spend very much or very little of their time surrounded by others tend to report the greatest loneliness. . . . loneliness is particularly high among people who spend a very high proportion of their time alone (more than approximately 75% of their waking hours). Spending a moderate amount of time alone (from approximately 25% to 75% of waking hours) was associated with comparably low rates of loneliness. Spending very little time alone . . . is also associated with slightly elevated levels of loneliness. . . . results indicate that the point of transition was 40.4 years of age. Below this age, the relationship between loneliness and time spent alone was not significant. . . . Above this age, the relationship between loneliness and time spent alone was significant.”
Andexander Danvers, Liliane Efinger, Matthias Mehl, Peter Helm, Charles Raison, Angelina Polsinelli, Suzanne Moseley, and David Sbarra. 2023. “Loneliness and Time Alone in Everyday Life: A Descriptive-Exploratory Study of Subjective and Objective Social Isolation.” Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 107, 104426, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2023.104426