Need satisfaction in daily well-being: both social and solitude contexts contribute to well-being

Adams, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8626-9227 and Weinstein, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2200-6617 (2024) Need satisfaction in daily well-being: both social and solitude contexts contribute to well-being. British Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 2044-8309 doi: 10.1111/bjso.12769

Abstract/Summary

Daily need satisfaction for relatedness (social connection), autonomy (volitional self-congruent action), and competence (self-efficacy) fosters well-being, but those findings primarily reflect experiences during social interactions. A three-week daily diary study (N=178) explored psychological need satisfaction in two key everyday contexts: solitude and social. Holding constant the benefits of need-satisfying social contexts, autonomy satisfaction during solitude was key to peaceful affect, whereas competence satisfaction during solitude contributed to lower loneliness; both psychological needs in solitude contributed to evaluating the day as more satisfying. Relatedness-deficiency in solitude did not contribute to loneliness; instead, those who were relatedness-deficient in social interactions felt lonely. Further, solitude need satisfaction compensated for deficient needs in social contexts, reducing loneliness (autonomy and relatedness) and increasing day satisfaction (all needs) when social contexts failed to satisfy needs. Findings suggest daily solitude can shape daily well-being and further attention is needed to understand and ultimately improve everyday solitude.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/116645
Identification Number/DOI	10.1111/bjso.12769
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Publisher	Wiley
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