By Stephen Beech
Single people are less extroverted, less conscientious, and less open to experiences than people who are married or in relationships, according to a new study.
Lifelong singletons also have lower scores on life satisfaction, say scientists.
Although being married or in a long-term relationship is often seen as the norm, more people are staying single for life.
But research shows that singlehood can bring economic and medical disadvantages, especially as people get older and may become more reliant on others.
The new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, reveals that lifelong singles have lower scores on life satisfaction measures and different personality traits compared to partnered people.
Researchers say their findings point to the need for both helpful networks and ways to create such networks that are better catered to single people.
Study co-lead author Dr. Julia Stern, a senior researcher at the University of Bremen in Germany, said: “When there are differences, they might be especially important in elderly people who face more health issues and financial issue.
“They need more help, and the help is usually the partner.”
Dr. Stern and her colleagues compared single people and partnered individuals on life satisfaction ratings and the ‘Big Five’ personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The study used a survey of more than 77,000 Europeans over the age of 50, and was the first of its kind to look across cultures and at people who had been single their entire lives.
The findings revealed that, as well as lower life satisfaction scores, lifelong singles are less extroverted, less conscientious, and less open to experience, compared to partnered people.
Previous studies used different definitions of being single, sometimes considering only current status and other times drawing the line at having never married or, alternatively, at never living with a partner.
But people who have been in a serious relationship in the past – even if it has ended – might have different personality traits than those who have never been that committed.
Dr. Stern and her colleagues grouped respondents by the different definitions: currently partnered, never living with a partner, never married, or never being in any long-term relationship.
People who had never been in a serious long-term relationship scored lower on extroversion, openness, and life satisfaction than those who were currently single but had lived with a partner or been married in the past.
All singles scored lower on those measures than people in current relationships.
Dr. Stern says that that changes to personality from being in a relationship are small and temporary. For example, although an extroverted person beginning a new relationship may be keen to stay in with their partner, eventually their extroversion comes back.
She said: “It’s more likely you have these selection effects: for example, people who are more extroverted are more likely to enter a relationship.”
But Dr. Stern warned that the results are average effects and not necessarily descriptive of everyone; of course, there are single extroverts and introverts in committed relationships.”
She said, for singletons, living in a society where marriage is the expectation may affect their life satisfaction.
Because the large sample included people from 27 European countries, the researchers were able to ask whether there were any cultural differences.
In countries with higher marriage rates, singlehood resulted in even lower life satisfaction scores, but the effects were small. But the religiosity of the country did not seem to matter.
When comparing across gender and age, single women scored higher on life satisfaction than single men, and older people tended to be happier with their singlehood status than middle-aged singles.
Dr. Stern suggests that, with the era of their peers getting married and starting families behind them, older singles may accept their circumstances and be happier.
She said singletons may grow happier with age, but their lower scores compared to partnered people are still “worrying”.
Previous research has shown life satisfaction and particular personality traits – including extroversion and conscientiousness – can predict health and mortality, emphasizing the need to find ways to promote the well-being of older singles.
Dr. Stern said: “There are differences between people who stay single their entire lives and people who get partnered, and for me this means that we have to take extra care of these people.”
She suggested developing new kinds of programs to prevent loneliness that take personality traits into consideration and help older singles meet like-minded people.
Dr. Stern added: “If they have people who care for them or look out for them regularly, this might help.”
