Social Battery Low: Why You Actually Need To Be Alone

#psychology #introvert #socialbattery Why do some people prefer being alone? You're at a good party, having fun, and then something switches off. You're not sad. You just want to go home. We follow your "social battery" through one day, from 100% to 3%, using real studies from Duke, Illinois, Helsinki, Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge, the London School of Economics, MIT and the University of Vienna. In this video we discuss: Why loving solitude is linked more to wanting time alone than to disliking people (Leary et al., 2003). How acting sociable lifts your mood now, but is linked to more tiredness about 3 hours later, for extraverts too (University of Helsinki, 2017). Dunbar's friendship layers (5 · 15 · 50 · 150), and Brian Little's "free traits" and "restorative niches". The savanna theory of happiness, and why 10 hours alone made the brain crave people the way a fasting brain craves food (MIT, 2020). If you've ever left a party early and wondered what's wrong with you, this one is for you. DISCLAIMER: This video is educational, not medical or psychological advice. The Helsinki study was small and correlational. The savanna theory is the authors' explanation; their effects were small, and they say they can't be sure of cause and effect. It does NOT mean people who like being alone are smarter. If being alone has started to feel painful rather than restful, please talk to someone you trust or a professional. SOURCES: Leary, M. R., et al. (2003). Finding pleasure in solitary activities: Desire for aloneness or disinterest in social contact? Personality and Individual Differences, 35(1), 59–68. Larson, R. W. (1997). The emergence of solitude as a constructive domain of experience in early adolescence. Child Development, 68(1), 80–93. University of Illinois. Leikas, S., & Ilmarinen, V.-J. (2017). Happy now, tired later? Extraverted and conscientious behavior are related to immediate mood gains, but to later fatigue. Journal of Personality. University of Helsinki. Robin Dunbar (University of Oxford), interview on friendship circles, NPR. Brian Little: "Introversion Unbound", Harvard Magazine; "Acting out of character in the workplace", University of Cambridge. Book: Me, Myself, and Us (2014). Li, N. P., & Kanazawa, S. (2016). Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness. British Journal of Psychology. Singapore Management University; London School of Economics. Tomova, L., Saxe, R., et al. (2020). Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger. Nature Neuroscience. MIT. Stijovic, A., Forbes, P., Silani, G., et al. (2023). Psychological Science. University of Vienna (social isolation, energy and fatigue). CHAPTERS: 0:00 10:47 PM at a party 0:32 Why do some people prefer being alone? 0:58 100%: Wanting solitude isn't hating people 2:59 82%: The social battery is real 4:37 61%: Your brain has a guest list 6:07 40%: The price of acting out of character 7:38 18%: An ancient brain in a modern crowd 9:21 3%: Too much of a good thing 11:08 Back to the party Business inquiries: ozzyexplains@gmail.com #introvertproblems #solitude #psychologyfacts #humanbehavior #stickman #ozzyexplains