Being in a relationship has little effect on overall happiness, says new study
Being single has long been the last taboo for women. From being labelled 'desperate,' 'unlucky' or 'incomplete;' if you're not in a couple, society usually deems you as miserable, but a new study shows that this really isn't the case.
It's been decades since single women were unapologetically labelled as spinsters, and yet single women - particularly if they're above 30 - are still portrayed as sad, lonely figures (just take a look at the troublesome Bridget Jones narrative, which author Helen Fielding admitted would look very different if written today). But according to a new study - one of the first of its kind - finding love with a romantic partner has very little effect on overall life happiness, with factors like friendships, hobbies and work being some of the main contributors to life satisfaction.
The study, commissioned by Michigan State University (MSU) and published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, measured the happiness levels of 7,532 people who were married, had been married at some point, and perpetually single people, to find out how much of an effect their relationship status had had on overall wellbeing, at the end of their lives - and as it turns out - there really wasn't much difference.
'We were surprised to find that lifelong singles and those who had varied relationship histories didn't differ in how happy they were,' said the study's co-author, Mariah Purol, who found that, although continuously married people rated slightly higher (they answered a four out of five on the happiness scale and single people marked 3.82 in the same survey), the results were not a big enough contrast to prove that being in a relationship will ensure long-term happiness.
In fact, if anything, the results show that your relationship status has very little bearing, and that 'when it comes to happiness, whether someone is in a relationship or not is rarely the whole story,' added William Chopik, MSU assistant professor of psychology and the other co-author of the study.
Continuing that: 'People can certainly be in unhappy relationships, and single people derive enjoyment from all sorts of other parts of their lives... In retrospect, if the goal is to find happiness, it seems a little silly that people put so much stock in being partnered.'
These results back up claims made by Paul Dolan at Hay Festival 2019, a professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics and author of Happy Ever After, who revealed that recent research indicated 'the healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children.' Dolan claimed that the traditional markers used to measure success - such as marriage and raising children - didn't not correlate with happiness levels, according to the latest evidence.
Purol believes that overall happiness 'may be less about the marriage and more about the mindset.'
'If you can find happiness and fulfilment as a single person, you’ll likely hold onto that happiness – whether there’s a ring on your finger or not.'
Wise words indeed, and food for thought if you've found yourself recently single, or are considering ending a relationship post-lockdown...
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