The Relationship of Social Withdrawal Motivations to Loneliness among Adolescents: Testing a Moderated Moderation Model of Self-determined Motivation for Solitude and School Climate

The purpose of this study was to examine whether self-determined motivation for solitude (SDMS) and school climate play moderated moderating roles in the relationship between shyness, social avoidance, and loneliness among adolescents. For this purpose, self-reported measures of the study variables were collected from 818 high school students in a metropolitan city in Korea. SPSS 25.0 and Process Macro 4.2 were used for statistical analysis. The major findings were as follows: First, shyness and social avoidance were positively correlated with loneliness, while school climate was negatively correlated with loneliness. Second, SDMS and school climate each moderated the effect of shyness on loneliness. Finally, there was a significant moderated moderation effect of SDMS and school climate in the relationship between social avoidance and loneliness. These findings suggest that fostering positive school climate and self-determined motivation for solitude among adolescents with high avoidance motivation (such as shyness and social avoidance) may help diminish their loneliness. Educational implications, limitations, and suggestions for further studies were discussed.