Many Single People are Quite Happy that Way Researchers Discover (2015 study)
I’d still like to get married someday.
HOWEVER. I have always been an extreme introvert and other people annoy the ever living hell out of me, so sometimes I am RELIEVED that I have never married. I was in a long term serious relationship years ago (I was engaged to the guy, I broke things off), and so I know being in a relationship can be irritating and stressful.
One of the things I like about being single is avoiding drama, disagreements, having to compromise all the time on everything, and fighting.
Not having to put up with someone else’s bullshit on a consistent basis is PRICELESS.
Single author Bella DePaulo has been debunking singles studies for years, particularly the ones that say that single adults are more miserable or die younger than married persons.
Study found those who like to avoid relationship drama are happier single
Researchers found being single removes anxiety associated with conflict
Some 4,000 people took part in the University of Auckland research
…Researchers at the University of Auckland said that those who prefer avoiding arguments or disagreements are more content being single than when they are in a relationship.
This flies in the face of previous research which has found that the single life is often associated with poorer physical and psychological health and lower life satisfaction.
…The survey of more than 4,000 people in New Zealand found that being single removes anxiety associated with relationship conflicts.
But in contrast, people who are not concerned about relationship drama were less happy when they were single.
(Link): Single People Can be Happy, Too
In the United States, 51 percent of adults are single. That number will likely only grow with marriage on the decline and divorce rates at historic highs, although not rising as quickly as past years.
Single people outnumbering married couples represents a historic moment in the United States, but the culture still stigmatizes staying solo.
Out of those 128 million Americans who aren’t married, surely some number of them prefer to avoid long-term relationships, and don’t merely find themselves that way by circumstance?
Despite the fact that we live in a society where technology is increasingly connecting more people and bringing them closer than ever before, plenty of folks really do just want to be left alone, finds a study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. In fact, despite social norms and cultural expectations, some singles are perfectly happy spending their lives in solitude.
A survey of more than 4,000 New Zealanders found that singles with high avoidance social goals, or people who strongly preferred steering clear of relationships in order to dodge potential conflicts or other anxiety-inducing situations, reported being just as happy as their coupled up counterparts.
…High avoidance individuals aren’t the only ones who might be better off single. (Link): A paper published in 2013 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology determined that people who harbor a strong fear of being single often end up in relationships that leave them unhappy.
“During relationship initiation and maintenance, those who fear being single may prioritize relationship status above relationship quality,” the authors write in their journal article, “settling for less responsive and less attractive partners and remaining in relationships that are less satisfying.”
Interestingly, however, those who had a strong fear of being alone but also single were no more or less depressed than those with the same anxiety who who were in less gratifying relationships.
Out of those studied, the researchers found between 15 and 20 percent of participants either anticipated fear of being single or already reported feeling it.
Fear of being alone can certainly lead to unfortunate relationship decisions, but many more are happy with their lifestyles. Single or married, plenty of people, no matter their relationship status, believe they made the right choice — and that their decision is what’s best for everyone, research published in the 2013 in Psychological Science found.
In fact, they often express how those within their social network might be better off had those individuals enjoyed the same relationship status.
Why would anyone feel the need to evangelize being single or married? According to the researchers, oddly enough, it might be a coping mechanism to deal with aspects of their lifestyle that these individuals are dissatisfied with.
Taken together, these studies suggest that not everyone is cut out for relationships. The single life isn’t so bad after all.
(Link): The Single Life Has Its Perks: Some Singles Just As Happy Alone As They Are In A Relationship
(Link): Single and Happy? Your View on Relationships May Be Key
(Link): For some, happiness is staying single
(Link): Study: Some people are happier single
(Link): Single People May Have More Satisfying Life Than Those in Relationships
(Link): STUDY SHOWS SINGLE PEOPLE OUTNUMBER THOSE WHO ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP
According to a study published in the journalSocial Psychological and Personality Sciencefor the first time in the history of the United States the number of single people is larger than the number of people who form a couple.
51 percent of the US adults are single and scientists speculate that the number will increase as divorce rates are reaching historic highs and marriage is on decline. In addition the study had also discovered that people who are single are happy in spite of the society’s expectation according to which single people are unfulfilled.
According to the study single people can be just as happy as people who are in a relationship. It all depends on how they perceive relationships in general. If an individual would rather avoid drama and conflict when it comes to relationships then on average he or she will see single life just as satisfying as sharing their life with somebody else.
On the other hand people who are not affected by ups and downs in relationships are not as happy when they are single.
(Link): Forever alone? Maybe it’s for the best
(Link): BEING SINGLE IS THE KEY TO MANY PEOPLE’S HAPPINESS, A NEW STUDY ARGUES
(Link): Many single people are quite happy that way researchers discover (2015 study)
Excerpts
August 22, 2015
A new study released Friday morning finds that sometimes, single people are happy.
“It’s a well-documented finding that single people tend to be less happy compared to those in a relationship, but that may not be true for everyone,” said lead researcher Yuthika Girme, a psychology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, in a (Link): press release.
Girme, (Link): according to her academic profile, studies ways to “maximize the health benefits arising from supportive relationships.”
Surveying 4,000 New Zealanders, who have (Link): little reason to be unhappy in the first place, the study found that people with “avoidance social goals” are more likely to be satisfied without a relationship because they prefer to avoid conflict. The press release on the study goes on to note that “some previous research has shown that being single usually is associated with slightly lower life satisfaction and poorer physical and psychological health.” The study set out to find whether this was actually true.
The participants were between the ages of 18 and 94. One-fifth of them identified as single. The study, published online in (Link): Social Psychological and Personality Science, asked them to identify their “avoidance goals,” which measured their willingness to go through relationship conflicts. Ultimately, the study found that people with “high avoidance goals” are more likely to be happy single. In contrast, those who don’t mind conflict were more likely to be dissatisfied without a relationship.
The data are striking, as Girme explained in the press release:
“Single people also can have satisfying lives,” she said.
Newsweek decided to find out what some single people—who were not involved with the study—thought of the findings.
…In the United States, single adults now outnumber married adults, with divorce rates also on the rise. Those looking to meet other singles have never had it better. For example, Krimzon, a semiprofessional rapper from Phoenix, was nonplussed by the new findings. “Yeah, of course I’m happy being single,” he toldNewsweek. “I’m not tied down by a relationship, and I can do my own thing.
Related:
(Link): Four in 10 Adults Between the Ages of 25 and 54 are Single, Up From 29% in 1990
(Link): Unmarried and Childless Women Are the Happiest, Happiness Expert Claims
(Link): Craigslist confessional: I’m in my 40s, never married, and a virgin—but I’m happy by Abigail
(Link): How the ‘Solo’ Movement is Rewriting Misconceptions of ‘Sad, Lonely’ Single Life
(Link): I Married Young. I Was Widowed Young. I Never Want A Long-Term Partner Again by R. Woolf
(Link): Adult Singles Do Not Need A Marital Partner to Be Whole or Complete
(Link): Married (Christian) People Aren’t More Virtuous Than Christian Singles
(Link): There is No Such Thing as a Gift of Singleness or Gift of Celibacy or A Calling To Either One
(Link): Family as “The” Backbone of Society? – It’s Not In The Bible
(Link): If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t
(Link): The Myth of the Gift – Regarding Christian Teachings on Gift of Singleness and Gift of Celibacy
(Link): Top Eight Reasons Not To Marry by Bella DePaulo
(Link): ‘Why Are You Single’ Lists That Do Not Pathologize Singles by Bella DePaulo
(Link): Article by J. Watts: The Scandal of Singleness
(Link): Conservative Christians Are Now Blaming Homosexual Marriage on Heterosexual Single Adults
(Link): Is The Church Failing Childless Women? by Diane Paddison
(Link): Do You Need a Partner to Have a Happy Life? by D. LaBier
Christian Pundit 
Single male, monogamous, never married, childless, straight. And I can live with that.
What can seem natural to many could be stress for someone else. As an adult I’ve never cared for the “cul-de-sac” life. Following the Joneses in my opinion is hollowing. I’ve never wanted children, so there haven’t been many relationships on my resume. I don’t like to go out and drink, either. If I could find the right person who is frugally and spiritually responsible and who abhors large crowds, sure that would be wonderful. I also realize that for me, it’s a tall order. I’ve made it this far alone, I certainly can go farther if I must.