A happy life without marriage or children? Study slaps the face: Being with a partner makes you happier than being single, and married people are actually the happiest
“If you don’t get married or have children, you will live a happy life” is a catchy and popular phrase among young people nowadays, to show that they can live a happy life even if they don’t get married and have children. However, a recent study published in “Evolutionary Psychological Science” pointed out that compared to singles or unmarried couples, “married people” show the highest happiness, while involuntary singles have the lowest happiness score.
Is it true that a life without marriage and children is a happy life? Joint study from 12 countries: Married people are the happiest
This study was initiated by team members from 12 countries (Cyprus, Poland, United Kingdom, Russia, Spain, United States, Oman, Ukraine, Japan, Peru, China, Egypt); 6,338 subjects were also recruited from this 12 countries. The average age of the subjects was 32.7 years old, of which 29.4% were married, 23.5% were currently dating a partner, 19.3% were voluntarily single (preferring to remain single), 12.2% were involuntarily single (desired to establish a relationship but had difficulty attracting a partner), 9.1% Being single after a breakup.
To this end, the research team conducted a questionnaire survey on the above-mentioned five major groups, and the tested indicators included six key indicators: life satisfaction, emotional well-being, happiness, optimism, meaning of life and relationship satisfaction. The analysis results show that “married people” have the highest scores in these six indicators; “involuntarily single people” have the lowest scores in all indicators.
Involuntary singles have the lowest level of happiness. Relationship quality is more important than whether they are single or not.
It is worth mentioning that in terms of emotional well-being, optimism and meaning of life, “volunteer singles” usually perform better than “post-breakup singles”, possibly because the former are satisfied with their single status, while the latter may still be Adapting to single life; as for happiness, voluntarily singles sometimes perform better than post-breakup singles, and sometimes the opposite is true. This shows that people who have just experienced a breakup may be in a more unstable emotional state.
The research team also found that “relationship quality” affects emotional well-being more than “relationship status.” For example, unmarried people with good relationship quality may have higher emotional well-being and life satisfaction than married people with poor relationship quality. Conversely, partners with poor relationship quality are likely to experience more negative emotions and lower life satisfaction than singles, even if they are married.
Is being single not necessarily unhappy? Expert: If the relationship between partners is too bad, it is better to “restore the relationship”
Menelaos Apostolou, the author of the study, said that intimate relationships have a significant contribution to individuals’ emotional health and life satisfaction in different cultural backgrounds, especially high-quality intimate relationships. Regardless of the country or gender of the subjects, those with partners showed more obvious positive emotions, such as happiness and self-confidence, than singles; singles showed more negative emotions such as guilt and sadness.
However, Apostolou emphasized that relationship quality is more important than relationship status. Happiness does not only come from the state of “having a partner”, but also depends on the quality of the relationship itself and the feelings it brings. In addition, there is no absolute correlation between being single and unhappiness. For example, voluntarily single people perform better than involuntary single people on many indicators, and unsuitable relationships may have negative impacts.
In general, Apostolou believes that you should not force yourself to pursue a specific relationship status. Everyone has different needs and feelings about relationships. Blindly forcing an unsuitable relationship model may be counterproductive. In addition, this experiment was a non-random sample, and the results may not be completely extrapolated to the entire group, and the causal link between relationship differences and happiness cannot yet be confirmed.
There is a reason why I have been unable to “come out” for a long time! 12 behaviors that may reduce the intimacy between two parties
If you really want to “leave your singles” but you keep getting slapped by your partner, you may have to pay attention to certain personality traits that may make you more likely to be disliked by your date! A study also led by Apostolou analyzed the results of 734 subjects and found that 12 behaviors can be said to be the most detrimental to flirting or warming up relationships:
Poor hygiene habits
Absent-minded
Caring too much about the other person
Speaking evil words
Ugly appearance
Lack of wisdom
Excessive narcissism
Lack of humor
Inappropriate physical contact
Excessive low self-esteem
Stingy
Incompatibility of values
The study pointed out that the top three behaviors that disgusted subjects the most were poor hygiene, absentmindedness, and excessive concern for each other. Apostolou said that excessive concern for the other party includes sending too many caring text messages, sending gifts, etc., which not only makes it difficult for the relationship between the two to become closer, but may also have the opposite effect. Therefore, it is recommended that singles know how to “seek good luck and avoid bad luck”. By avoiding the above behaviors, it may help to get out of singles more smoothly.
Source:
What constitutes bad flirting: An explorative study of dealbreakers
Emotional Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction of Singles and Mated People Across 12 Nations
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