Abstract
M.A.
Solitude, which is an objective state of voluntary aloneness, has been shown to
become increasingly valuable during adolescence and has been linked to several
positive psychological outcomes, including better emotional regulation, increased life
satisfaction, better academic performance, and enhanced psychological well-being.
However, very few solitude measures are currently available, with most developed
and validated for use within Westernised contexts. To date, no solitude measure has
been validated for use within a multicultural, non-Westernised context. The
Motivation for Solitude–Short Form (MSS–SF; Thomas and Azmitia 2014) is one of
the few available solitude measures and assesses individuals’ preferences for solitude.
However, the MSS–SF has only been validated for use within Westernised contexts.
Thus, the aim of the present study was to validate the MSS–SF for use within a
multicultural context by evaluating its psychometric properties using a group of South
African adolescents. The MSS–SF comprises of two subscales, namely selfdetermined-
solitude (SDS) and non-self-determined solitude (NSDS). Participants
(N=818) were high school students (grades 9–11) from private and government
schools on whom the MSS–SF, as well as other criterion measures, were
administered. The latter included the Preference for Solitude Scale (PSS; Burger...