04/30/2026
Research led by Julie Bowker, PhD, associate professor of psychology at UB, found that people who withdraw from socializing for non-fearful, autonomous reasons don’t experience the negative outcomes typically associated with social withdrawal. In fact, her study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, was the first to link a form of social withdrawal, called “unsociability,” with a genuinely positive outcome: creativity.
I'll admit something that took me years to say out loud: I've never been the person who lights up at the idea of a crowded dinner party. For most of my