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In today’s world, more and more people are postponing marriage or even abandoning it for the sake of, for example, a career.
In the USA, for example, there are more single people than married people (51% and 49%). There are still fewer bachelors in Russia, but the gap is minimal – according to the 2002 population census, 57% of Russian residents reported that they were in an official or civil marriage, and in 2010 there were already 55% of such people.
It has been proven that, in general, people without a permanent partner are less happy than those who are in a relationship. However, there are many exceptions to this rule.
A group of psychologists led by Yuthika Girme from the University of Auckland (New Zealand) decided to clarify this issue. More than 4000 New Zealanders aged 18 to 94 took part in their study. A fifth of the participants did not have a partner, the rest were in long-term relationships.
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- Prince Charming for a lonely lady
It turned out that those who tend to avoid conflict and disagreement at all costs were happy being alone: no partner means no constant anxiety about potential conflicts. Those participants who were generally not overly concerned about possible relationship problems were less happy when alone.
“The desire to avoid conflict at all costs can end up causing more problems,” says Yutiki Guirm. “Replaying unpleasant memories in the mind that feed anxiety ultimately impairs the quality of life for those who are used to being without a partner.”
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- They love but don’t make love anymore
Researchers have identified another type of people – they strive to maintain relationships, emotional closeness and joint personal growth with a partner are important to them. These participants were more satisfied with their lives than others, called themselves happy people, but the absence of a partner affected them harder and caused them a lot of suffering.
Подробнее см. Y. Girme et al. «Happily single: The link between relationship status and well-being depends on avoidance and approach social goals», Social Psychological and Personality Science, August 2015.