Identifying Psychological Factors Influencing Voluntary Social Isolation among Young Adults

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the psychological factors influencing voluntary social isolation among young adults in Tehran. This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. The study population consisted of young adults aged 18 to 29 years who lived in Tehran and reported conscious withdrawal, voluntary reduction of social relationships, and persistent preference for being alone. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was reached. Eighteen participants were interviewed. After obtaining informed consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. Data analysis followed the main stages of thematic analysis, including familiarization with the data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the final report. Credibility and trustworthiness were enhanced through member checking, peer review, analytic memo writing, and maintaining an audit trail. Data analysis led to the identification of five main themes: sensitivity to social judgment, psychological exhaustion caused by unstable relationships, negative self-evaluation and hidden shame, interpersonal mistrust and expectation of rejection, and preference for controlled solitude as a coping strategy. The findings indicated that voluntary social isolation among young adults is not merely a sign of poor social skills or simple disinterest in relationships. Rather, it emerges from the interaction of evaluation anxiety, repeated relational disappointments, feelings of inadequacy, perceived interpersonal threat, and attempts to regain psychological control. Some participants described solitude as a safe, predictable, and low-cost space, while simultaneously reporting consequences such as stagnation, reduced motivation, and difficulty returning to social relationships. The findings suggest that voluntary social isolation among young adults is a multidimensional and meaningful phenomenon that should be understood through lived experience, psychological safety needs, rejection sensitivity, and avoidant coping strategies. Effective psychological interventions should move beyond simple encouragement to increase social contact and should instead focus on modifying maladaptive social cognitions, reducing shame, rebuilding interpersonal trust, and creating gradual opportunities for safe reconnection.