3 reasons everyone should rave alone once

You enjoy it more than you think

Researchers looked at why people skip films, galleries and meals out when they have nobody to come with. What stops them is being seen, and expecting strangers to read something into their social life. They also found people overestimate how much their enjoyment depends on company.

The night runs on your terms

A survey asked solo attendees at a music festival what the night was actually like. They described the room as safe, full of people into the same thing. Being on their own gave them flexibility, and full control of how the night went.

Alone on purpose feels better

Three studies pinged 283 people six or seven times a day for a week, 8,769 check-ins in all, asking what they were doing and how it felt. The worst-rated moments were time alone that nobody had chosen. When they chose it themselves, that drop did not show up.

None of these studies were run in a club. Ratner and Hamilton looked at films, galleries and restaurants, and only the abstract is public, so there are no numbers to give you from it. The dancefloor reading is ours. The festival survey does say the 3% who came alone described the room as safe, and that what they got for going without company was flexibility and control of how the night went. Some of them still wanted someone there at points. And time alone you chose is not the same as time alone that just happened to you. Only one of those is worth trying on purpose.