According to attachment theory, attachment security plays a key role in shaping people’s expectations and beliefs about their loved ones and predicts a host of processes.
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Why do some people stay single for long periods of time? Although the question seems anecdotal, it could reveal important traits of people’s personalities. Research published in the Journal of Personality at the end of March asks this question and offers answers that may interest you. (See: The EPS got on the health reform bus)
It all starts, the authors say, from a paradox: most people want to form a committed romantic relationship at some point in their lives, but more and more people live alone and do not have a partner. Rates of living alone nearly doubled between 1967 and 2020, rising from 7.6% to 14.4% in the United States, and around 35% of the US adult population is reported to be single.
Surprisingly, they say, little research has addressed this question. Relationship science has developed several theories that explain relationship attraction and the factors that predict how people form and maintain secure, satisfying relationships, but little is known about why some people remain single or the factors that undermine or facilitate the well-being of single people.
Although adult attachment is one of the strongest predictors of relationship well-being, very little research has investigated how adult attachment is relevant to the lives of single people. According to attachment theory, attachment security plays a key role in shaping people’s expectations and beliefs about their loved ones and predicts a host of processes.
The researchers conducted two studies: one with 482 younger single people and the other with 400 long-term older singles. The results revealed several types of singles: the secure, the anxious, the avoidant and the fearful. The former feel comfortable with intimacy and closeness; the latter wonder if others love them and worry about being rejected; third parties feel uncomfortable, approaching others and prioritize their independence; and the fourth have greater anxiety about abandonment. (Can see: The menstrual disorder that is little talked about and that affects many women)
“Our findings also revealed that these different subgroups of singles have different experiences and outcomes,” the authors say in a column about their study in The Conversation. The secure are happy being single, the anxious tend to be the most worried about being single and have lower self-esteem; avoidants show the least interest in having a romantic relationship; and fearful people reported more difficulty navigating close relationships than secure singles.
Most people in the study were insecure (78%), but a considerable number of them were secure and prosperous (22%). The researchers remind, however, that “the simple fact of having a romantic relationship is not a panacea. “Being in an unhappy relationship is linked to worse life outcomes than being single.” (See: The chaos unleashed by the Minsalud with the draft tariff manual)
“Our studies are some of the first to examine the diversity of attachment styles among single adults. “Our findings highlight that many single people are secure and prosperous, but also that more work can be done to help insecure single people feel more secure to foster happiness,” the researchers conclude.
