This reference work offers a comprehensive compilation of current psychological research related to the construct of solitude
* Explores numerous psychological perspectives on solitude, including those from developmental, neuropsychological, social, personality, and clinical psychology
* Examines different developmental periods across the lifespan, and across a broad range of contexts, including natural environments, college campuses, relationships, meditation, and cyberspace
* Includes contributions from the leading international experts in the field
* Covers concepts and theoretical approaches, empirical research, as well as clinical applications

List of Contributors viii
Foreword: On Solitude, Withdrawal, and Social Isolation xii
Kenneth H. Rubin
Part I Theoretical Perspectives 1
1 All Alone: Multiple Perspectives on the Study of Solitude 3
Robert J. Coplan and Julie C. Bowker
2 Studying Withdrawal and Isolation in the Peer Group: Historical Advances in Concepts and Measures 14
William M. Bukowski and Marie-Hélène Véronneau
3 An Attachment Perspective on Loneliness 34
Mario Mikulincer and Phillip R. Shaver
4 Shyness and the Electrical Activity of the Brain: On the Interplay between Theory and Method 51
Louis A. Schmidt and Vladimir Miskovic
5 The Origins of Solitude: Psychoanalytic Perspectives 71
Evangelia Galanaki
6 Experiences of Solitude: Issues of Assessment, Theory, and Culture 90
James R. Averill and Louise Sundararajan
Part II Solitude Across the Lifespan 109
7 The Causes and Consequences of "Playing Alone" in Childhood 111
Robert J. Coplan and Laura Ooi
8 Peer Rejection in Childhood: Social Groups, Rejection Sensitivity, and Solitude 129
Drew Nesdale and Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
9 Affinity for Aloneness in Adolescence and Preference for Solitude in Childhood: Linking Two Research Traditions 150
Luc Goossens
10 Social Withdrawal during Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood 167
Julie C. Bowker, Larry J. Nelson, Andrea Markovic, and Stephanie Luster
11 Introversion, Solitude, and Subjective Well-Being 184
John M. Zelenski, Karin Sobocko, and Deanna C. Whelan
12 Social Approach and Avoidance Motivations 202
Jana Nikitin and Simone Schoch
13 Ostracism and Solitude 224
Eric D. Wesselmann, Kipling D. Williams, Dongning Ren, and Andrew H. Hales
14 Social Isolation among Older People 242
Elaine Wethington and Karl Pillemer
Part III Solitude Across Contexts 261
15 Anxious Solitude at School 263
Heidi Gazelle and Madelynn Druhen Shell
16 Loneliness and Belongingness in the College Years 283
Steven R. Asher and Molly Stroud Weeks
17 Single in a Society Preoccupied with Couples 302
Bella DePaulo
18 Loneliness and Internet Use 317
Yair Amichai-Hamburger and Barry H. Schneider
19 Mindfulness Meditation: Seeking Solitude in Community 335
Paul Salmon and Susan Matarese
20 The Restorative Qualities of Being Alone with Nature 351
Kalevi Korpela and Henk Staats
Part IV Clinical Perspectives 369
21 Social Anhedonia and Solitude 371
Thomas R. Kwapil, Paul J. Silvia, and Neus Barrantes-Vidal
22 Social Anxiety Disorder and Emotional Solitude 391
Lynn E. Alden and Karen W. Auyeung
23 Loneliness and Social Isolation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders 409
Connie Kasari and Lindsey Sterling
24 Solitude and Personality Disorders 427
Kevin B. Meehan, Kenneth N. Levy, Christina M. Temes, and Jonathan J. Detrixhe
25 The Intersection of Culture and Solitude: The Hikikomori Phenomenon in Japan 445
Alan R. Teo, Kyle W. Stufflebam, and Takahiro A. Kato
Part V Disciplinary Perspectives 461
26 A View from Biology: Playing Alone and with Others: A Lesson from Animals 463
Elisabetta Palagi
27 A View from Anthropology: Anomie and Urban Solitude 483
Leo Coleman
28 A View from Sociology: The Role of Solitude in Transcending Social Crises - New Possibilities for Existential Sociology 499
Jack Fong
29 A View from Computer Science: From Solitude to Ambient Sociability - Redefining the Social and Psychological Aspects of Isolation in Online Games 517
Nicolas Ducheneaut and Nicholas Yee
30 A View from Political Theory: Desire, Subjectivity, and Pseudo-Solitude 539
Matthew H. Bowker
31 A View from Religious Studies: Solitude and Spirituality 557
John D. Barbour
Index 573

The Editors

Robert J. Coplan is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University and Director of the Pickering Centre for Research in Human Development. Dr. Coplan is co-editor of Social Development in Childhood and Adolescence: A Contemporary Reader (Wiley Blackwell, 2011), and The Development of Shyness and Social Withdrawal (2010) and a former editor of the journal, Social Development.

Julie C. Bowker is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Her research program focuses on the roles that close interpersonal relationships play in socio-emotional development and psychopathology during late childhood and early adolescence.