AGING & MENTAL HEALTH

2019, VOL. 23, NO. 9, 1095–1104

https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1479836

Everyday solitude, affective experiences, and well-being in old age: the role
of culture versus immigration
Da Jianga,f,g, Helene H. Fungb, Jennifer C. Layb, Maureen C. Ashed,e, Peter Grafc and
Christiane A. Hoppmannc,d
a
Department of Special Education and Counselling, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; bDepartment of Psychology,
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; cDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada;
d
Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; eDepartment of Family Practice, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; fIntegrated Centre for Wellbeing (I-WELL), Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; gChina
Centre for Psychosocial Health, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Objectives: Being alone is often equated with loneliness. Yet, recent findings suggest that the Received 10 February 2018
objective state of being alone (i.e. solitude) can have both positive and negative connotations. The Accepted 14 May 2018
present research aimed to examine (1) affective experience in daily solitude; and (2) the association
KEYWORDS
between everyday affect in solitude and well-being. Weexamined the distinct roles of culture and
Solitude; emotion; age;
immigration in moderating these associations. immigration; culture
Method: Using up to 35 daily life assessments of momentary affect, solitude, and emotional well-
being in two samples (Canada and China), the study compared older adults who aged in place
(local Caucasians in Vancouver, Canada and local Hong Kong Chinese in Hong Kong, China) and
older adults of different cultural heritages who immigrated to Canada (immigrated Caucasians and
immigrated East Asians).
Results: We found that older adults of East Asian heritage experienced more positive and less
negative affect when alone than did Caucasians. Reporting positive affect in solitude was more
positively associated with well-being in older adults who had immigrated to Canada as compared
to those who had aged in place.
Conclusions:These findings speak to the unique effects of culture and immigration on the affect-
ive correlates of solitude and their associations with well-being in old age.

Solitude is defined as the objective state of being alone typically examined solitude and its effects in older adults
(Larson, 1990). It is often assumed that people feel lonely, who are aging in their own cultures, however, the ways in
sad, or otherwise negative when they are alone, particularly which culture and immigration may moderate the relation-
older adults, who spend more time in solitude (Larson, ship between solitude and well-being should not be ignored.
Zuzanek, Mannell, 1986). However, empirical findings on The current study aimed to examine (1) affective experiences
the relationship between being alone and psychological in solitude in daily life; and (2) the relationship between
well-being are mixed. Whereas some studies have found affective experiences in solitude and overall well-being. We
that being alone is associated with worse mental health examined the moderating effects of culture and immigration
compared to being with people (e.g. Jylh€a, 2004), other on these relationships. Our sample consisted of four groups
studies have found that individuals, particularly older of older adults differing in cultural heritage (local Caucasians
adults, experience more low arousal positive affect when in Vancouver, Canada and local Hong Kong Chinese in Hong
they are alone (positive affect with a lower level of activa- Kong, China) and immigration background (immigrated
tion, e.g. calm; Pauly, Lay, Nater, Scott, & Hoppmann, 2017). Caucasians born in Europe or the United States who had
Because it is often assumed that being alone inherently moved to Canada, and immigrated East Asians born in China
leads to loneliness, most previous studies have focused on who had moved to Canada). This sample allowed us to spe-
negative outcomes of solitude, such as loneliness and cifically address the distinct roles of culture and immigration
depression (Jylh€a, 2004). Little is known about individuals’ in moderating the associations between daily solitude and
affective experiences (defined as a consciously accessible affective experiences, and between affective experiences dur-
feeling state; p.147, Russell, 2003) during solitude and their ing solitude and overall well-being.
relationship to well-being. To this end, we examined affect-
ive experiences in solitude and the association of such
Solitude in older adulthood
affective experiences with well-being.
Along with the rapid progress of globalization, inter- Older adults are often perceived to be lonely. Indeed, they
national migration has accelerated over the past fifty years. have smaller social networks and fewer peripheral social part-
More and more people are aging in a culture that is different ners than their younger counterparts (e.g. Lang & Carstensen,
from that in which they grew up. Existing studies have 1994), and they also spend more time in solitude than

CONTACT Da Jiang [email protected] Department of Special Education and Counselling, Education University of Hong Kong, D2-2/F-02, Tai Po,
Hong Kong, China
ß 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
1096 D. JIANG ET AL.

younger adults (Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek, 1986). Solitude European Americans and Hispanic Americans, whose cultures
seems to be associated with more negative and less positive put more emphasis on positive affect, whereas momentary
affect compared to time with others, but a number of studies negative affect had a stronger association with well-being for
have found that this effect is weaker in older than in younger Asian Americans, from cultures that are more tolerant of
individuals (Chui, Hoppmann, Gerstorf, Walker, & Luszcz et al., negative affect (Sims, Tsai, Jiang, Wang, Fung, & Zhang,
2014; Matias, Nicolson, & Freire, 2011; Pauly et al., 2017). 2015). Leu, Wang, and Koo (2011) also found a negative asso-
Solitude may be pleasant or beneficial. Long and colleagues ciation between feeling more positive and being more
asked students to describe their experiences in solitude, and depressed for European Americans and Asian Americans who
categorized these experiences into three types: inner-directed were not immigrants, but not for immigrant Asians. These
solitude (e.g. self-discovery and inner peace), outer-directed findings suggest, first, that associations between affective
solitude (e.g. intimacy and spirituality), and loneliness (Long, experience and well-being may vary across individuals; and
Seburn, Averill, & More, 2003). The first two categories pin- second, that culture and immigration background may also
point the potential benefits of solitude. Pauly and colleagues play a role in affect-wellbeing associations.
(Pauly et al., 2017) found a positive association between This literature on affective experiences and wellbeing has
momentary solitude and low arousal positive affect. not examined affective experiences in different social situa-
Older adults seem to benefit more from solitude than tions. However, it is known that individuals experience greater
their younger counterparts. According to socioemotional negative affect and less positive affect when they are alone,
selectivity theory (e.g. Carstensen, Fung, & Charles, 2003), compared to when with others (Larson, 1990). Individuals’
older adults, who perceive their future time as more limited, affective experiences are shaped by stimuli in their present
consider emotionally meaningful goals (e.g. experiencing environment (Gross, 2013). Hence, affective experiences when
positive and meaningful emotion) to be more important with others may be more closely tied to the affect and behav-
than do younger adults. Solitude provides older adults with iors of one’s social partners, as compared to affective experien-
an environment of freedom, autonomy, and pleasantness ces when in solitude, which may be more closely tied to one’s
(Long, 2000), which is consistent with the emotionally mean- inner experiences. Therefore, relationships between affective
ingful goals that they pursue. The time-sampling method, experiences and well-being may be specific to certain social
which repeatedly measures individuals’ social and psycholo- situations, namely solitude, and these relationships may be
cial status, is widely used in studies examining solitude. This moderated by culture and immigration background.
method provides high ecological validity and insights into
time-varying emotional experiences as individuals engage in Solitude, culture, and immigration
their daily lives (Bolger, Davis, & Rafaeli, 2003). In a time-
sampling study (Lang & Baltes, 1997), old-old adults aged 85 Hofstede (1991) defined culture as the collective programming
to 104 years, but not young-old adults aged 70–84 years, of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group
perceived more autonomy and controllability when alone from those of another (p. 5). In the process of aging, people
than when they were with others. Lang and Baltes (1997) internalize the values of their culture (Fung, 2013). Patterns of
interpreted these findings by saying that interacting with age differences in emotion, social relationships, and other
people could involve negative experiences, such as disagree- domains have been found to differ across cultures (for a
ments and conflicts. In solitude, older adults do not have to review, see Fung, 2013; Fung & Jiang, 2015). Immigration, in
resolve potential interpersonal conflicts and do not have to contrast, is the process in which people move to a country
adjust to others’ needs, which may explain why they per- that is not their native country and where they may not pos-
ceive solitude as more controllable and autonomous. sess citizenship, in order to settle or reside there (Canadian
Solitude may also enable self-attunement and self- Council for Refugees, 2016). People can immigrate to a country
growth (Long et al., 2003). Through self-attunement, peo- whose culture is very similar to or very different from their ori-
ple arrive at a better understanding of themselves and ginal heritage culture. In other words, culture describes similar-
their most important goals, and derive emotional meaning, ities and differences in value systems, whereas immigration
which may be more important for older than younger emphasizes relocation. Because immigrants are exposed to
adults (Carstansen, Fung, & Charles 2003). In sum, theoret- both their original culture and to the culture to which they
ical models and empirical studies suggest that old age may migrate, a large number of studies have focused on
weaken solitude’s negative effects (e.g. less positive and immigrants’ ‘bicultural’ backgrounds (e.g. Chang, 1996).
more negative affect), but strengthen its positive effects Unfortunately, this confounds cultural differences with immi-
gration differences. Therefore, we aimed to disentangle the dis-
(e.g. perceived autonomy and controllability).
tinct roles of culture and immigration in shaping affective
experiences during solitude.
The link between affective experiences in solitude and
well-being
The role of culture
Although an increasing number of studies have suggested Culture shapes individuals’ affective experiences, and their
age differences in how individuals feel in solitude, few stud- evaluation of the situations that elicit different affective
ies have linked positive and negative affect in solitude with states (e.g. Tsai, 2007). Past studies suggest that people
overall levels of well-being. The link between affective experi- from different cultures may have different affective experi-
ences and well-being has recently been shown to differ ences in solitude, and that Chinese may value solitude to a
across individuals and across cultures. For example, Choi and greater extent than do North Americans. First, self-reflec-
Chentsova-Dutton (2017) found that momentary positive tion (the voluntary form of self-focus; Trapnell & Campbell,
affect had a stronger association with well-being for 1999) has been found to be more important in Asian value
 AGING & MENTAL HEALTH 1097

systems than in North American value systems (Heine, their current affect and social context (i.e. in solitude
Lehman, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999). Second, the value placed or not).
on being free from social regulation and being in harmony In order to tease apart the effects of culture and immi-
with nature are highlighted in the doctrine of Taoism (Ho, gration, we combined two independently collected time-
1995), which is more popular in China and other East Asian sampling data sets that used identical items, one from
regions than in North America. Third, East Asian individuals Vancouver, Canada and the other from Hong Kong, China.
prefer low arousal activities, such as meditation and yoga, Both data sets included older adults aged 61 years and
more than North Americans, whereas North Americans like above. The Canadian data set includes local Caucasians
high arousal positive activities, such as partying and gather- who were born in and live in Canada (Group 1: local
ings, more than East Asians (Tsai, 2007). Solitude facilitates Caucasians), immigrated Caucasians who currently live in
self-reflection (Long & Averill, 2003), escape from social regu- Canada but were born in Europe or the United States
lation pressures, and enjoyment of low arousal positive activ- (Group 2: immigrated Caucasians), and immigrated East
ities. Therefore, solitude may be preferred by Chinese Asians who were born in China or other East Asian coun-
individuals to a greater extent than North Americans, and tries and who currently live in Canada (Group 3: immi-
may go along with more positive affect and less negative grated East Asians).1 The Chinese data set includes Hong
affect among individuals of East Asian heritage as compared Kong Chinese who were born in Hong Kong or mainland
to those of Western heritage. China and currently live in Hong Kong (Group 4: local
Hong Kong Chinese). Comparing these four groups of older
The role of immigration adults allowed us to tease apart the influences of culture
and immigration on the associations between being alone,
People who immigrate to a new country lose some of their
current affect, and overall well-being among older adults.
peripheral social partners and may reduce their frequency
We hypothesized that being alone would be associated
of contact with close social partners (Eapen, 2003).
with lower positive affect and more negative affect, com-
Immigrants may also have problems communicating with
pared to being with others, and that cultural background
local people because of language barriers (Barrio et al.,
would influence people’s affective experiences in solitude.
2008). This is particularly true for older immigrants (Eapen,
Specifically, we hypothesized that the negative association
2003). When mobility becomes an issue, older adults also
between solitude and positive affect, and the positive asso-
may no longer go to their home country to visit, and thus
ciation between solitude and negative affect, would be
are disadvantaged compared to people who have family
weaker in older adults of East Asian heritage than those of
close by. Aside from language barriers, difficulty adapting
Western heritage because the former may value self-reflec-
to climate, poverty, and financial difficulties are all chal-
tion and low arousal positive affect more than the latter. In
lenges and barriers faced by older immigrants (Barrio et al.,
other words, we expected Chinese and immigrated East-
2008). These challenges contribute to worse well-being and
Asian older adults would feel better when alone than
poorer quality of life among older adults who immigrated
would local and immigrated Caucasian older adults.
compared with local older adults (Ng, Lee, Wong, & Chou,
We also hypothesized that more positive affect and less
2015), and may motivate them to turn inward for comfort.
negative affect in solitude would be associated with higher
The better people cope with environmental changes
levels of overall well-being. We expected that immigration
caused by immigration, the better mental health they may
background would moderate this association. Specifically,
have (Farley, Galves, Dickinson, & Perez, 2005). Immigrants’
we hypothesized that the associations between positive
well-being may benefit if they can better cope with the
and negative affect in solitude and overall well-being
fact that they have fewer social connections. Hence, experi-
would be stronger for immigrated older adults than for
encing more positive and less negative affect may benefit
local older adults because enjoying solitude may be a prag-
the well-being of immigrants more than people aging in
matic strategy for immigrants, who have reduced access to
their own country.
social partners, to maintain well-being.

The present study

Method
The present study addressed two questions. First, we exam-
Participants
ined affective experience (i.e. positive and negative affect)
in solitude and whether these solitude-affect associations By combining two datasets from Vancouver, Canada and
differed by culture and/or immigration. To do so, we exam- Hong Kong, China, we arrived at a sample of 48 local
ined whether older adults of particular cultural/immigration Caucasians, 33 immigrated Caucasians living in Canada, 43
backgrounds might experience greater positive or negative immigrated East Asians living in Canada,2 and 38 local
affect when alone. Second, we examined the relationship Hong Kong Chinese (N ¼ 162; 60% female; Mage ¼ 71.67
between solitude-positive affect and well-being, and years, SDage ¼ 5.30 years, age range 61 to 93 years). In both
between solitude-negative affect and well-being, and studies, community-dwelling older adults were recruited
whether these relationships are moderated by culture and/ through convenience sampling. Participants were recruited
or immigration. We used time-sampling methods to access through media advertisements and local community
momentary affect (i.e. the participant’s positive and nega- centres. Power analysis using G*Power 3 (Faul, Erdfelder,
tive affective states at the moment when they were Lang, & Buchner, 2007) revealed power of .71 to detect
paged). We paged participants three to five times a day for medium-sized effects. Table 1 shows sample descriptive
seven to ten days, and used questionnaires to ask about information.
1098 D. JIANG ET AL.

Table 1. Descriptive information by culture/immigration group.

Immigrated Immigrated Local Hong
Local Caucasians Caucasians East Asians Kong Chinese
(N ¼ 48; (N ¼ 33; (N ¼ 43; (N ¼ 38;
65–83 years) 64–82 years) 65–93 years) 61–83 years)
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Age 71.88 4.63 71.85 5.27 71.81 5.77 70.71 5.92
Marital Status (Married %) 38 42 70 84
Education (1 ¼ College and above) 0.60 0.64 0.58 0.05
Gender (1 ¼ Female) 0.65 0.55 0.35 0.50
Live Alone (1 ¼ live alone) 0.54 0.48 0.22 0.09
Solitude Percentage 50 32 49 29 27 30 43 22
Subjective Health 3.77 0.90 3.94 0.70 3.14 0.94 4.89 0.39
Well-Being 6.50 2.96 7.27 3.45 6.93 2.94 7.50 2.40
Solitude-Positive Affect Slope 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.04
Solitude-Negative Affect Slope 0.03 0.09 0.02 0.07 0.01 0.09 0.01 0.07
Note. N ¼ 162. Solitude Percentage ¼ the number of times that a participant reported s/he was alone at that measurement occasion divided by their total
number of measurement occasions and multiplied by 100; Solitude-Positive affect slope ¼ the association between being in solitude vs. not in solitude
and positive affect. Solitude-Negative affect slope ¼ the association between being in solitude vs. not in solitude and negative affect.

The Canadian data set included data from three groups. five times daily for seven days (Reis & Gable, 2000). Over the
All participants were living in Vancouver when the study was course of the time-sampling period, all participants com-
conducted. The local Caucasian participants were individuals pleted the questionnaire 35 times. Although the time-sam-
who had been raised in Canada. The immigrated Caucasian pling frames were slightly different, the total number of data
participants were individuals who had been born in Europe points obtained in the two data sets were similar. All meas-
(e.g, in Germany or France) or the United States and had ures in the Chinese data set were in traditional Chinese.
immigrated to Canada. The immigrated East Asian partici-
pants were individuals who had been born in China or other
East Asian regions and had immigrated to Canada. An add- Measures
itional 18 participants had to be excluded due to incomplete Individual level measures
data. All participants in the Canadian data set received CAD
$100 (USD $77) for completing the study (see Hoppmann, Well-being
Lee, Ziegelmann, Graf, Khan, & Ashe, 2015 for more details). The well-being subscale of the Center of Epidemiological
The Hong Kong data set included data from local Hong Kong Studies-Depression scale (Radloff, 1977) was used (Haley
Chinese participants who lived in Hong Kong when the study et al., 2004). Participants were asked to indicate how often
was conducted, had been raised in China, and had parents certain experiences had occurred in the past week on a 4-
who were born and raised in China. They received HKD $500 point scale from 1 ‘never/extremely few (less than a day)’ to
(USD $65) for completing the study. 4 ‘always/most of the time (five to seven days).’ Four items,
‘I felt that I was just as good as other people’, ‘I felt hopeful
about the future,’ ‘I was happy’, and ‘I enjoyed life’, were
Procedure used to measure well-being (Cronbach’s alpha ¼ .67).
Canadian data set
Prior to a ten-day time-sampling phase, participants Demographics
recruited in Canada (local Caucasians, immigrated In the survey prior to time-sampling, we recorded partic-
Caucasians, and immigrated East Asians) were asked to ipants’ age, gender (0 ¼ male; 1 ¼ female), education level
complete a questionnaire on well-being and demographic (0 ¼ less than college level; 1 ¼ college or above), marital
variables. They were then paged three times a day during status (0 ¼ single/divorced/widowed; 1 ¼ married or living
a 12-hour window for ten days to answer questions on with a romantic partner), subjective health (5-point scale
their momentary experiences, including their affective from 1 ¼ very poor to 5 ¼ very good), and whether they
experiences and social context (Reis & Gable, 2000). Thus, were living alone (0 ¼ living with others; 1 ¼ living alone).
they provided a maximum of 30 responses to the question- We statistically controlled for all demographical variables
naire. Over the course of the time-sampling phase, partici- in analyses.
pants completed an average of 29.73 questionnaires
(SD ¼ 0.71) [Caucasian Canadians], 29.84 questionnaires
(SD ¼ 0.71) [immigrated Caucasians], and 29.98 question- Time-sampling measures
naires (SD ¼ 0.34) [immigrated East Asians]. Caucasians
Momentary affect
completed the protocol in English, and Mandarin- and
A short version of the Affect Valuation Index (AVI; Tsai,
Cantonese-speaking participants completed the study in
Knutson, & Fung, 2006) was used to assess momentary
simplified or traditional Chinese.
affect. Participants were required to indicate the intensity
with which they were experiencing each of four affective
Hong Kong data set states, using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5
The procedure for collecting data in Hong Kong was similar (extremely). Positive affect was measured by aggregating
to that used in Canada. The difference was that participants responses to happy and calm (between-person reliability
recruited in Hong Kong (i.e. Chinese) were paged randomly estimate ¼ .66; within-person reliability estimate ¼ .68).
 AGING & MENTAL HEALTH 1099

Negative affect was measured by aggregating responses to of Variance (ANOVAs) with the solitude-positive affect and
anxious and sad (between-person reliability estimate ¼ .66; solitude-negative affect slopes as dependent variables, and
within-person reliability estimate ¼ .69) (Cranford, Shrout, culture and immigration as independent variables.
Iida, Rafaeli, Yip, & Bolger, 2006). The AVI has been vali-
dated in Chinese, European American, and Asian American
samples (Tsai et al., 2006). Relationship between solitude-affect associations and
well-being across cultural and immigration backgrounds
Solitude To test whether affective experiences in solitude were asso-
Each time they were paged, participants were asked to ciated with well-being and whether these associations
indicate whether they were alone or with a social partner were moderated by culture and immigration, we regressed
by selecting from a list that included I am ‘alone’, I am well-being on the solitude-positive affect or solitude-nega-
with ‘family members’, ‘friends’, etc. For data analyses, sit- tive affect slope, age, and dummy coded culture/immigra-
uations in which a participant was alone were coded as 1 tion group variables using multiple linear regression.
‘alone’, and situations in which a participant was with
some social partner were coded as 0 ‘not alone’.
Results
Affective experiences in solitude across cultural and
Data analysis overview
immigration backgrounds
Two questions were addressed in the current study: (1)
whether affective experiences in solitude differed by culture
Positive affect in solitude
and immigration; (2) whether affective experiences in solitude We performed 2 (Immigrant vs. Non-immigrant) X 2 (East
were associated with well-being and whether this association Asian Culture vs. Western Culture) factorial Analyses of
differed by culture and immigration. To control for any effects Variance (ANOVAs) to examine the hypothesis concerning
of sampling frame differences, we computed the person-level the effects of immigration and culture on affective experien-
solitude-affect slopes and used these slopes in data analysis. ces in solitude. With the solitude-positive affect slope as a
dependent variable, the main effect of immigration was not
significant, F(1,158) ¼ 1.53, p ¼ .22, g2 ¼ .01, observed power-
Computing personal level solitude-affect slopes ¼ .23, but the main effect of culture, F(1,158) ¼ 8.07, p < .01,
g2 ¼ .05, observed power ¼ .80, and the interaction between
We first computed person-mean-centered momentary posi-
immigration and culture, F(1,158) ¼ 4.338, p < .05, g2 ¼ .03,
tive and negative affect scores by subtracting each person’s
observed power ¼ .54, were significant. Planned linear con-
mean positive and negative affect across all measurements
from each of their momentary positive and negative affect trasts revealed that, although being alone was generally
scores. Hence, the positive and negative affect scores associated with less positive affective experiences, this nega-
reported below are deviations from each person’s baseline tive association was weaker in local Hong Kong Chinese
positive and negative affect. Then, we extracted the associ- (M ¼ .02, SD ¼ .04) than in local Caucasians (M ¼ .04,
ations between person-mean-centered positive affect and SD ¼ .04), t(84) ¼ 3.22, p < .01, immigrated Caucasians,
solitude, and between person-mean-centered negative (M ¼ .04, SD ¼ .04), t(69) ¼ 2.42, p < .05, and East Asian
affect and solitude, for each participant using Hierarchical Canadians (M ¼ .03, SD ¼ .03), t(79) ¼ 2.50, p < .05. Partially
Linear Modeling (HLM, Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992). In the consistent with our hypothesis, this finding suggested that
HLM models, solitude (‘alone or not alone’) was a Level 1 local Hong Kong Chinese (the group who had the most East
independent variable. Person-mean-centered positive and Asian cultural exposure) were more tolerant of being in soli-
negative affect were Level 1 dependent variables. We con- tude than the other three groups (see Figure 1).
trolled for each person’s overall solitude percentage (the
number of times that a participant reported s/he was alone Negative affect in solitude
at that measurement occasion divided by their total num-
With the solitude-negative affect slope as a dependent
ber of measurement occasions) to account for the potential
variable, we repeated the preceding analysis. Although the
influence of overall time spent alone on affective experien-
main effect of immigration, F(1,158) ¼ .05, p > .25, g2 ¼ .00,
ces when participants were currently alone. The Level 1
observed power ¼ .06, and the two-way Immigration X
model was nested within each participant. Through this
Culture interaction, F(1,158) ¼ .05, p ¼ .83, g2 ¼ .001,
procedure, we generated a solitude-positive affect slope
observed power ¼ .06, were not significant, the main effect
(i.e. the association between solitude and experiencing
of culture was significant, F(1,158) ¼ 8.06, p < .01, g2 ¼ .05,
more positive affect than average) and a solitude-negative
observed power ¼ .81. While participants originally from
affect slope (i.e. the association between solitude and expe-
Western cultures (M ¼ .03, SD ¼ .08) experienced greater
riencing more negative affect than average) for each par-
negative affect when they were alone, this was not true for
ticipant. The slopes were used in the data analyses that
those from East Asian cultures (they showed a very small
follow, which linked solitude-positive affect and solitude-
negative association between being alone and negative
negative affect slopes with well-being.
affect, (M ¼ .01, SD ¼ .08), suggesting that East Asians did
not feel greater negative affect when they were alone (see
Affective experiences in solitude across cultural and Figure 1). Taken together, solitude was more strongly asso-
immigration backgrounds ciated with positive affect, and less strongly associated
To examine whether affective experiences in solitude differed with negative affect, in older adults of East Asian heritage
by culture and immigration, we performed factorial Analyses compared to those of Western heritage.
1100 D. JIANG ET AL.

(a) 0.01

Culture X Immigraon Groups

0

Solitude-Posive Affect Associaons

Local Caucasians Immigrated Caucasians Imigrated Asians Local Hong Kong Chinese

-0.01

-0.02

-0.03

-0.04

-0.05

(b) 0.05

0.04

0.03
Solitude- Negave Affect Associaons

0.02

0.01

0
Local Caucasians Immigrated Caucasians Imigrated Asians Local Hong Kong Chinese

-0.01

-0.02

Culture X Immigraon Groups

-0.03
Figure 1. Solitude-positive affect association (a), and solitude-negative affect association (b) for each culture by immigration group. The y-axes show the asso-
ciations between solitude and experiencing more positive (a) or negative (b) than average. A larger value indicates a greater association between being in soli-
tude and experiencing more positive (a) or negative affect (b) than average. Error bars represent standard errors.

The effects of solitude-affect associations on well- Solitude-positive affect associations and well-being
being across cultural and immigration backgrounds We found a significant three-way Age  Solitude-positive
affect slope  Local Caucasian vs Immigrated Caucasian
In order to test the hypotheses concerning the associa-
interaction, b ¼ 1.44, SE ¼ .68, t(139) ¼ 2.13, p < .05, 95%
tions between affect-solitude slopes and well-being, and
CI ¼ [2.78, .11], and a significant three-way Age 
the moderating roles of culture and immigration, we
regressed well-being onto age, dummy coded culture/ Solitude-positive affect slope  Local Caucasian vs
immigration group variables, and the solitude-positive Immigrated East Asian interaction, b ¼ 1.82, SE ¼ .68,
affect or solitude-negative affect slope using multiple lin- t(139) ¼ 2.65, p < .01, 95% CI = [3.17, .46] (see Table
ear regression. With local Caucasians as the reference 2). To explore the nature of these interactions, we split the
group, the three dummy codes in the regression models data by participants’ culture/immigration group and age
were: local Caucasians vs local Hong Kong Chinese, local (mean þ/ 1 SD age). The effect of the solitude-positive
Caucasians vs Immigrated Caucasians, and local affect slope on well-being was significant among old-old
Caucasians vs Immigrated East Asians. We controlled for (aged 75 years or above) immigrated Caucasians, b ¼ .39,
gender, marital status, education status, living alone or SE ¼ .18, t ¼ 2.16, p < .05, 95% CI ¼ [.02, .77] and old-old
not, and subjective health in the first block, and entered immigrated East Asians, b ¼ .93, SE ¼ .23, t ¼ 4.00, p < .001,
the main effects (solitude-positive affect slope or soli- 95% CI ¼ [.46, 1.41], but not among the other culture/immi-
tude-negative affect slope, age, dummy coded culture/ gration group by age groups.3 Experiencing more positive
immigration group) in the second block, the two-way affect when alone was associated with greater overall well-
interactions in the third block, and the three-way interac- being. This effect was significant for older adults falling in
tions in the fourth block. the old-old category who immigrated from another
 AGING & MENTAL HEALTH 1101

Table 2. Multiple linear regression analysis results for influences of solitude-positive affect slope, age, and culture/immigration group on well-being.
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Block DR 2
B s.e. t B s.e. t B s.e. t B s.e. t
1 Marital Status (1 ¼ Married) .06† .85 .15 1.00 .95 .16 1.13 1.14 .20 1.39 .95 .16 1.17
Education (1 ¼ College and above) 1.05 .18 2.30 .89 .16 1.78 .80 .14 1.62 .70 .12 1.44
Gender (1 ¼ Female) .18 .03 .35 .40 .07 .80 .68 .12 1.38 .74 .13 1.50
Subjective Health .05 .01 .10 .15 .03 .32 .13 .02 .29 .26 .04 .55
Live Alone (1 ¼ live alone) .13 .02 .15 .15 .02 .17 .06 .01 .07 .08 .01 .10
2 Positive Slope .07 .22 .07 .92 .46 .16 1.10 1.00 .34 2.10
Age .62 .22 2.73 .20 .07 .07 .95 .14 1.54
CCvsIC 1.16 .17 1.84 .98 .14 1.57 .27 .04 .44
CCvsIA .43 .07 .68 .28 .04 .44 .42 .06 .59
CCvsHK .67 .10 .90 .49 .07 .68 .45 .16 .15
3 Positive slope  CCvsIC .08 1.44 .23 2.22 1.91 .31 2.81
Positive slope  CCvsIA 2.15 .25 2.81 2.85 .33 3.57
Positive slope  CCvsHK .51 .10 0.88 .90 .17 1.38
Positive slope  Age .74 .25 .22 2.02 .69 .61
4 Positive slope  Age  CCvsIC .05 1.44 .23 2.13
Positive slope  Age  CCvsIA 1.82 .28 2.65
Positive slope  Age  CCvsHK 0.53 .09 .78
Note. N ¼ 162. Positive slope ¼ solitude-positive affect slope (the association between solitude and experiencing more positive affect than average);
CCvsIC ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasians and immigrated Caucasians; CCvsIA ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasian Canadians and immi-
grated East Asian Canadians; CCvsHK ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasian Canadians and local Hong Kong Chinese.
†
p<.10, p<.05, p< .01, p< .001.

Table 3. Multiple linear regression analysis results for influences of solitude-negative affect slope, age, and culture/immigration group on well-being.
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Block DR 2
B s.e. t B s.e. t B s.e. t B s.e. t
1 Marital Status (1 ¼ Married) .06† .85 .15 1.00 .97 .17 1.17 1.13 .20 1.34 .97 .17 1.14
Education (1 ¼ College and above) 1.05 .18 2.30 .94 .16 1.90 .99 .17 1.95 .65 .11 1.23
Gender (1 ¼ Female) .18 .03 .35 .53 .09 1.06 .59 .10 1.16 .67 .11 1.30
Subjective Health .05 .01 .10 .14 .02 .31 .04 .01 .08 .05 .01 .12
Live Alone (1 ¼ live alone) .13 .02 .15 .35 .06 .40 .15 .03 .17 .27 .04 .30
2 Age .09 .58 .21 2.61 .27 .10 .91 .29 .10 .97
Negative Slope .46 .16 2.04 .59 .21 1.49 .85 .31 2.01
CCvsIC 1.09 .15 1.75 1.15 .16 1.77 1.11 .16 1.70
CCvsIA .04 .01 .07 .14 .02 .21 .21 .03 .32
CCvsHK .17 .02 .23 .08 .01 .11 .36 .05 .48
3 Negative slope  CCvsIC .02 .29 .04 .46 .70 .11 1.00
Negative slope  CCvsIA .32 .06 .54 .92 .18 1.45
Negative slope  CCvsHK .28 .04 .37 .22 .03 .28
Negative Slope  Age .32 .09 .99 1.22 .33 1.82
Age  CCvsHK 9.01 .16 1.48 11.09 .20 1.79
4 Negative slope  Age  CCvsIC .03 1.66 .16 1.50
Negative slope  Age  CCvsIA .06 .01 .06
Negative slope  Age  CCvsHK 1.53 .28 1.78
Note. N ¼ 162. Negative slope ¼ solitude-negative affect slope (the association between solitude and experiencing more negative affect than average);
CCvsIC ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasian Canadians and immigrated Caucasians; CCvsIA ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasian Canadians
and immigrated East Asian Canadians; CCvsHK ¼ Dummy code contrasting local Caucasian Canadians and local Hong Kong Chinese.
†p<.1, p<.05, p< .01, p< .001

country, but not for local older adults or for those falling in exposure (that is, local Hong Kong Chinese) responded most
the young-old category. favorably to solitude (stronger solitude-positive affect associa-
tions and weaker solitude-negative affect associations). Being
alone was generally associated with less positive affect com-
Solitude-negative affect associations and well-being pared to being with others, but local Hong Kong Chinese
As shown in Table 3, the three-way and two-way interac- were the least affected. While local and immigrated
tions were not significant, but the main effect of solitude- Caucasians experienced more negative affect when they
negative affect slope on well-being was significant, were alone compared to when with others, local Hong Kong
b ¼ .85, SE ¼ .31, t ¼ 2.01, p < .05, 95% CI ¼ [1.69, Chinese and immigrated East Asians did not. These findings
.01]. Experiencing less negative affect in solitude was suggest that, although being alone is generally associated
associated with greater well-being. with less positive affect and more negative affect among
older adults, East Asian cultural groups, possibly due to the
greater value they place on self-reflection (Long & Averill,
Discussion
2003) and on low arousal affect (Tsai, 2007), may be spared.
We examined culture and immigration moderators of affect- Next, we examined associations between solitude-affect
ive experiences of solitude and in the relationship between slopes and well-being. We also examined whether these
solitude-affective experience associations and well-being. We associations differed between the four older adult culture/
compared four groups of participants with different cultural immigration groups. We found that greater positive affect
and/or immigration backgrounds. Consistent with our when alone was positively associated with well-being
hypotheses, older adults with the most East Asian culture among old-old (aged 75 years or above) immigrated
1102 D. JIANG ET AL.

Caucasians and immigrated East Asians, but not among findings provide further scientific understanding of how
their young-old counterparts or the two local groups. Older migration and cultural backgrounds may impact age-related
immigrants, and particularly the old-old, face many social phenomena such as time spent alone.
challenges (Barrio et al., 2008). Our results suggest that These findings highlight that the effects of culture and
old-old immigrants who have learned to enjoy being alone immigration are distinguishable. The findings are also con-
(who are able to derive positive affect from solitude) also sistent with previous research suggesting that culture and
enjoy a higher level of overall well-being. This interpret- immigration may play different roles in the relationship
ation is consistent with the argument that immigrants between affective states and well-being in general (e.g.
develop different strategies to counteract the effects of Choi & Chentsova-Dutton, 2017; Leu et al., 2011). Taking
increased solitude caused by immigration (Chen, Benet- this previous work one step further, we directly compared
Martınez, & Bond et al., 2008). the roles of culture and immigration in associations
In addition, age played a moderating role. As noted between solitude, affect, and well-being. In many social
above, the old-old but not young-old in the two immi- psychological studies, immigrants are seen as people with
grated groups showed a positive link between solitude- bicultural backgrounds (e.g. Chang, 1996). Comparing peo-
positive affect associations and well-being. Such findings ple with and without immigration experiences is therefore
are consistent with those of Lang and Baltes (1997), who used as an alternative to examining cultural influences.
found that the old-old benefited more from solitude. They Although many studies have examined immigrants by
are also supported by arguments from socioemotional focusing on their ‘bicultural’ or ‘multicultural’ mindsets
(Phinney & Devich-Navarro, 1997), far fewer studies have
selectivity theory (e.g. Carstansen, Fung, & Charles, 2003),
paid attention to the nature of ‘immigration’ or examined
the claim that older adults are more motivated to derive
how an individual’s immigration history shapes aging. In
emotional meaning from life. The life-span theory of con-
this study, we completely crossed two cultures (Caucasian
trol (Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995) argues that, compared
vs. East Asian) and two immigration statuses (local vs.
with their younger counterparts, older people are more
immigrant) and examined their moderating roles on older
likely to benefit from fitting in with the external environ-
adults’ affective experiences in solitude and on links
ment. More positive and less negative affect when alone
between positive and negative affect-solitude associations
may indicate a more emotionally meaningful context and/
and well-being. To our knowledge, this design is unique in
or a better fit with the environment, thereby improving the the literature on psychology and aging. Our findings shed
well-being of old-old more than young-old. light on the importance of differentiating between culture
We found that immigration did not moderate affective and immigration in future research on aging.
experiences in solitude, and that culture did not moderate The current findings also have practical implications for
the relationship between solitude-affect slopes and well- services that aim to maintain or enhance the well-being of
being. This suggests that culture and immigration may play older adults of different backgrounds. Understanding older
distinct roles in affective experiences in solitude and in adults’ needs and matching services to needs is important
their associations with well-being. Specifically, culture influ- in maintaining well-being. Knowing that, in our sample,
ences how people value different emotions and situations being alone was associated with more negative affect for
as a form of automatic processing (Mauss, Bunge, & Gross, Caucasian than for East Asian older adults, services that
2008). This is consistent with the idea that the more people aim at increasing social engagement may consider target-
internalize their East Asian cultural roots, the less they may ing Caucasian older adults in particular. East Asian older
experience the negative affective correlates of solitude adults may instead be provided with more opportunities to
(decreased positive affect and increased negative affect in enjoy solitude if they so choose. Furthermore, for the old-
solitude, compared to being with others), regardless of old, regardless of culture or immigration status, services
whether they have experienced immigration. However, should focus on maintaining positive affect when alone, as
immigration is associated with environmental changes that the old-old are harder hit by such reductions in positive
people have to adapt to, such as having fewer social con- affect in solitude than are young-old. Family members of
nections. Regardless of people’s cultural background, the these at-risk groups can also be educated to pay particular
better they can adapt to the new environment (e.g. by attention to the solitude/social needs of their relatives.
experiencing more positive affect and less negative affect
when in solitude), the more their well-being will benefit.
Limitations

Theoretical and practical implications Despite the above strengths, this study only provides a first
look. Findings have to be interpreted in light of the following
These findings have important implications for research on limitations, which should be addressed in future research. As
aging, culture, and immigration, particularly in countries like we have mentioned, the Hong Kong and Canadian studies
Canada that have a large population of immigrants. First, had methodological differences because they were con-
our findings suggest that being alone is not exclusively ducted independently, without knowledge of one another.
negative (Long et al., 2003). Feeling more positive affect Future studies should employ the same study design for all
when alone benefits well-being overall. Second, comparing the participant groups to validate these findings. Hong Kong
the four culture/immigration groups sheds light on whether Chinese participants reported better subjective health than
the impacts of solitude-affect associations on well-being are the other groups in the current study. Although we have
culturally specific or universal. Although we observed univer- controlled for subjective health in data analysis, future stud-
sal patterns in our study, cultural and immigration-related ies should validate these findings in more representative
variation did exist. In the context of global aging, these local Hong Kong Chinese or local mainland Chinese samples.
 AGING & MENTAL HEALTH 1103

Moreover, we examined older adults only, and measured Disclosure statement

affective states using only four items in this combined data
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
set. Future studies should examine solitude, affect, and well-
being for a wider age range and should measure additional
affective states (e.g. enthusiastic, relaxed, peaceful) using a Funding
longer version of the AVI (Tsai et al., 2006). Future research
should also examine other indicators of well-being, such as The work described in this paper was supported by the Hong Kong
Research Grants Council General Research Fund (14403014) to Helene
quality of life, and include other relevant covariates linked to
H. Fung, the South China Programme Research Grant, Chinese
affect and well-being, such as economic status (Dolan, University of Hong Kong to Helene H. Fung, Christiane A. Hoppmann,
Peasgood, & White, 2008) and exercise (Penedo & Da Jiang, and Jennifer Lay, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Dahn, 2005). Catalyst Grant to Christiane A. Hoppmann, Maureen C. Ashe, Peter
We examined solitude as the objective state of being Graf, Karim Miran-Khan, and Jochen P. Ziegelmann (IAP-107853), a
alone. However, people may sometimes choose to be alone, Start-up Grant from the Education University of Hong Kong to Da
Jiang, and the Research Support Scheme 2017/2018 of the
whereas sometimes their solitude is unchosen or undesired
Department of Special Education and Counselling at the Education
(Long et al., 2003). Future research needs to address the University of Hong Kong to Da Jiang. Christiane Hoppmann gratefully
extent to which solitude happens by choice in old age. acknowledges the support of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health
Moreover, we examined correlational relationships between Research (MSFHR) and the Canada Research Chairs program. Maureen
solitude, affective experience, and well-being among people C. Ashe also acknowledges the support of the Canada Research
of different cultural and immigration backgrounds. Future Chairs program.
studies should examine the causal mechanisms underlying
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