This study provides valuable insights into the psychological characteristics and challenges faced by single people throughout their lives, especially in old age. Understanding these differences can help to design policies and programs that address the well-being of this group, promoting support networks and strategies to improve their quality of life.
Romantic relationships influence many aspects of life, such as social networks, well-being and health. Although being part of a couple is widely seen as the social norm, more and more people choose or end up remaining single throughout their lives.
This group, which is growing globally, may face different psychological and material challenges as they age. Around 5% of Europeans are people who have not had a partner by the age of 40, with considerable variation between different countries.
Studies suggest that both singles and people with partners tend to feel more comfortable with their status as they age, but in old age, factors such as health and social support become even more important.
Personality plays an important role in health and longevity. Traits such as extroversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness can influence the likelihood of someone entering or staying in a relationship.
Extroversion makes it easier to meet new people and interact socially, increasing the chances of starting a relationship. Neuroticism can make relationships more unstable due to greater emotional sensitivity and difficulty dealing with conflict.
Conscientiousness, on the other hand, contributes to longer-lasting relationships, as it involves commitment, responsibility, and effort to maintain the relationship.
These traits do not determine the fate of a relationship, but they influence how people interact and deal with the challenges of life as a couple.
People who are more extroverted and conscientious, and lower in neuroticism, are more likely to establish and maintain relationships. On the other hand, individuals who are less extroverted and more neurotic tend to remain single, and this condition may accentuate these characteristics over time.
In addition, there is evidence that life satisfaction is linked to extroversion and neuroticism, and single people, in general, report slightly lower levels of well-being, although this difference diminishes in old age.
The current study looked at how personality traits and life satisfaction vary between lifelong singles and people who have had a partner. The researchers used data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), covering 27 countries and more than 77,000 participants over the age of 50.
The study investigated whether the effects of relationship status varied across factors such as age, gender, income level, and cultural norms. It also looked at differences between singles who had never married, never cohabited, or never had a serious relationship.
The results indicated that lifelong singles were, on average, less extroverted, less conscientious, and less open to new experiences (depending on the definition of singleness used).
Furthermore, they reported lower life satisfaction compared to people who had ever had a partner. The effects were more pronounced among those who had never had a serious relationship than among those who had never married or cohabited. In addition, factors such as social context and the proportion of single people in the population influenced the results.
This study provides valuable insights into the psychological characteristics and challenges faced by single people throughout their lives, especially in old age. Understanding these differences can help in the creation of policies and programs aimed at the well-being of this group, promoting support networks and strategies to improve their quality of life.
READ MORE:
Differences Between Lifelong Singles and Ever-Partnered Individuals in Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction
Julia Stern, Michael D. Krämer, Alexander Schumacher, Geoff MacDonald, and David Richter
Psychological Science. Volume 35, Issue 12
Abstract:
Being romantically partnered is widely seen as a societal norm, and it has been shown to be positively associated with important life outcomes, such as physical and mental health. However, the percentage of singles is steadily increasing, with more people staying single for life. We used the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE; N = 77,064, mainly ≥ 50 years, 27 countries) to investigate Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction in lifelong singles compared with ever-partnered individuals. Specification-curve analyses suggested that lifelong singles were less extraverted, less conscientious, less open to experiences (dependent on singlehood definition), and less satisfied with their lives. Effects were stronger for never-partnered than for never-cohabitating or never-married individuals and were partly moderated by gender, age, country-level singlehood, and gender ratio. Our study provides insights into the characteristics of lifelong singles and has implications for understanding mental health and structures of social support in older individuals.
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