A new study has uncovered several factors that predict the transition from being single to being in a relationship in college students. The findings appear in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.
“Given the increasing percentage of single and childless individuals in many Western and Asian societies, there is a need for more knowledge about factors that are involved in determining who stays, perhaps involuntarily, single,” said study author Eilin Kristine Erevik, an associate professor at the Department of Psychosocial Science at the University of Bergen, Norway.
The researchers surveyed more than 11,000 college students in Bergen regarding their personality traits, substance use, relationship status, and other factors. About 5,000 of these students completed a follow-up survey one year later. For their current study, Erevik and her colleagues focused on 2,404 participants who reported being single in the first survey and who also completed the second.
“The main findings were that having children, being extroverted, being high in neuroticism, drinking relatively more alcohol as well as using illegal drugs increased the likelihood of entering romantic relationships among female students, while higher age, being extroverted and having higher scores on the personality trait openness predicted romantic relationship formations for male students,” Erevik told PsyPost.
“It is important to stress that we don´t know why these individual characteristics were associated with romantic relationship formation and several mechanisms could be at play. For instance, the association between neuroticism and romantic relationship formation (for women) might be related to neuroticism being perceived as an attractive trait in women or that neurotic, single women may have a stronger need for support and thus search more intensely for a partner.”
“Based on the findings that extraversion and alcohol use were associated with an increased likelihood of romantic relationship formation, one take-home message for those seeking a partner might be that participating in social events may help your chances as both extroverts and those with higher alcohol use are likely to partake in social events more frequently compared to introverts and alcohol abstainers.”
“Perhaps the most surprising finding,” Erevik told PsyPost, was that female students who had children were more likely to have entered into a romantic relationship compared to female students without children.
The association between having children and forming a relationship had a moderate effect size among female participants. Among male participants, however, there was not a significant relationship between having a child and entering into a relationship.
“It is at odds with previous research, which has shown single mothers to be perceived as less attractive and to have a harder time finding a partner. The finding could be perceived as an uplifting fact as it may suggest that prejudices towards single mothers are declining,” Erevik explained.
But the study — like all research — has its limitations.
“As mentioned, we don´t know why the specific individual characteristics predicted romantic relationship formation and a more thorough investigation of the mechanisms involved would be informative. Neither do we know the duration of the romantic relationships that were established by the participants and it is reasonable to assume that different traits may predict who enters shorter romantic relationships compared to longer, lifelong relationships,” Erevik said.
“There is a lack of research on how an individual (or society) can increase the likelihood of romantic relationship formations. The findings from the current study could be important for future studies investigating different strategies or initiatives (e.g., the use of online dating sites/apps) to aid romantic relationship formation.”
The study, “Demographics, Personality and Substance-Use Characteristics Associated with Forming Romantic Relationships“, was authored by Eilin K. Erevik, Ståle Pallesen, Cecilie S. Andreassen, Øystein Vedaa, Anders Skogstad, Amandeep Dhir, and Torbjørn Torsheim.
