I Don't Like Studying With Other People: Is That a Problem?

Saying "I don't like studying with other people" rarely points to a problem. A liking for company, the heart of extraversion, isn't among the personality traits linked to grades, and time alone that you choose tends to come with less stress. What most people dislike is the talking group. A quiet room where everyone works and nobody chats is a different thing.

A study group and a quiet room ask different things of you

A study group asks you to explain, keep pace with others and agree on a time to meet. A quiet room keeps the people and drops the talk. Before deciding you dislike both, compare what each one asks of you:

The quiet room can be a library reading room, a silent study floor or a live video room with every microphone off.

Is it a problem if I don't like studying with other people?

Not for your grades, on the evidence. Arthur Poropat pooled studies of the five big personality traits and academic performance, with cumulative samples of over 70,000 students (Psychological Bulletin, 2009). Grades correlated with agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Extraversion, the trait built around liking company and stimulation, wasn't among them.

What matters more is why you keep away from groups. Virginia Thomas and Margarita Azmitia built a scale of motives for solitude with 803 young adults and 176 adolescents in the US (Journal of Adolescence, 2019). Time alone chosen because you value it went with well-being, especially among the young adults. Time alone you feel pushed into went with loneliness, social anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Time alone also pays off day to day. Netta Weinstein and colleagues ran a 21-day diary study with 178 adults aged 35 and over in the UK and US (Scientific Reports, 2023). On days with more hours alone, people felt less stressed and more free to act on their own terms, and those gains added up over the study. No single balance of time alone and time with others suited everyone. The participants weren't students, so take it as a hint for study days rather than proof.

One caution runs the other way: people tend to expect time alone to beat a chat with a stranger, and they're often wrong. In one study, commuters told to talk to a stranger enjoyed the ride more than those told to keep quiet. Our guide to making friends in online classes has the details. Try a group once before ruling it out for good.

So the dislike becomes a problem in two cases: when it's fear rather than preference, covered below, or when you get less done alone, which Can't Study Alone? explains. For the tasks where a group earns its time, see what research found about each setup.

Why a study group can tire you out hours later

A lively session can feel fine while it lasts. Sointu Leikas and Ville-Juhani Ilmarinen asked 48 people about their behavior and mood five times a day for 12 days, collecting 2,328 reports (Journal of Personality, 2017). Acting outgoing went with better mood and less fatigue at the time, but with more fatigue three hours later. The number of people someone had met explained the delayed tiredness, and the pattern held whatever a person's personality.

Solitude works the other way. In four experiments, Thuy-vy Nguyen, Richard Ryan and Edward Deci found that time alone damped high-energy feelings, pleasant and unpleasant ones alike (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2018). It happened when people were alone, not when they were with another person. When they had chosen to be alone, it brought relaxation and less stress.

If groups tire you, plan around that delay. Put your hardest solo block before a group session, not in the three hours after it, and give the evening after a group lighter work such as flashcards.

When the dislike is really fear

Sometimes "I don't like studying with other people" is a softer way to say you're afraid of how others will see you. The NHS describes social anxiety disorder as a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations. Its signs include avoiding or worrying a lot about group conversations, finding it hard to do things while others watch, and fearing criticism (NHS).

It isn't rare, and it peaks in early adulthood. The US National Institute of Mental Health cites a national survey run from 2001 to 2003. In it, an estimated 7.1% of US adults had the disorder in the past year, and rates fell with age:

If that fits and the fear keeps you from seminars, office hours or exams you need, see a doctor or your campus counseling service. The NHS calls cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) the best treatment, and in England you can refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without going through a GP. A quiet study room can be a low-pressure place to be near people, but it isn't treatment.

Quiet company: people around, nobody to talk to

Working on your own task next to other people needs no group to manage and no conversation. The research on it, mostly under the name body doubling, is small and its results are mixed, so test it on yourself rather than take it on trust.

StudyDuo's Focus Room runs on that model. Each person's task sits under their video, microphones stay off for the whole room, and it's open day and night. You can aim your camera at your face or your desk, or never turn it on. Visibility is yours to set as well: the whole room, people whose cameras are on, or people with a verified photo, and with Premium, Premium members or people you follow. Anyone you leave out sees only a blurred outline. If showing your face is the sticking point, these camera-off setups go further.

If one person is easier than a room, a 1:1 gives you a single partner on video. Put a slot on the board for right now or any time in the next seven days; when someone takes it, the two of you are on video together. You can talk or keep to the chat, and both of you need a verified photo.

A first session that asks little of you:

1. Watch before you join. Without an account, a browser shows you Focus Room or Study Hour for up to an hour a day, and the people in the room can't see you.
2. Go in with your camera off, one task written and a 30-minute session.
3. Point the camera at your desk once that feels easy, or keep it off for good.
4. Try Study Hour if you want a fixed time with nobody to coordinate: it starts everyone on one hour of focus, with no breaks, at the same moment each day.

Other ways of studying with people, from discussion groups to silent ones, are on the online study group page.

When a course makes you work in a group

A line like "I don't like studying with other people" won't get you out of a graded group project, but how the group runs is up for negotiation. John Mathieu and Tammy Rapp followed 32 teams of MBA students through a business strategy simulation (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009). Teams with better plans for the task did better. Teams strong on both the plan and a team charter, an agreement on how they'd work together, kept up the best performance.

Use the first meeting for both:

1. Write a one-page charter: who does what, by which date, how decisions get made, and where discussion happens between meetings, such as a shared document or a group chat.
2. Split the work into parts each person does alone, each with its own date.
3. Keep meetings short, with an agenda sent ahead, and spend them joining the parts.
4. Offer to take the written work if talking is the hard part: the draft, the slide text or the reference list.