In a study published in Psychological Science, researchers uncovered differences in personality traits and life satisfaction between lifelong singles and those who have been in romantic relationships. Lifelong singles reported lower levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and life satisfaction compared to ever-partnered individuals. These differences were especially pronounced in older adults, a group that may face additional challenges related to health and economic stability. The study highlights the importance of supportive social networks tailored to the needs of lifelong singles, particularly in later life.
Marriage or long-term relationships are often seen as the societal norm, but a growing number of people remain single throughout their lives. This shift has raised questions about how lifelong singlehood affects well-being and personality, especially as people age and become more reliant on social and economic support. The researchers aimed to explore how personality traits and life satisfaction differ between lifelong singles and ever-partnered individuals, with the goal of identifying potential challenges and opportunities for this population.
“I got interested while working on a different project, in which we studied people who were single and then re-contacted them 13 years later to investigate whether their partner preferences (traits they value in a romantic partner) predict with whom they enter a relationship and their relationship quality,” said study author Julia Stern, a senior researcher at the University of Bremen.
“We detected that quite a large number of people did not enter any relationship across these 13 years and that they differed in their personality from people in relationships. The field of personality and romantic relationships is quite established, but I wondered that we’re almost never interested in the people who stay single. This has changed in the last year and research on singles is increasing. What was missing so far was research on people who stay single their entire lives.”
The research team analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a large-scale panel study involving over 77,000 participants from 27 European countries and Israel. Participants ranged in age from 22 to 105, with an average age of 68. The researchers used three criteria to define lifelong singlehood: never having been married, never cohabitating with a partner, or never having been in a serious long-term relationship. Those who met any of these criteria were classified as lifelong singles, while the rest were categorized as ever-partnered.
Personality traits were assessed using a brief version of the Big Five Inventory, which measures extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness to experience. Life satisfaction was evaluated with a single-item measure asking participants to rate their overall satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10. The researchers also collected data on demographic factors, income, education, and cultural variables such as national religiosity and gender ratios.
To ensure the robustness of their findings, the researchers conducted specification-curve analyses, a statistical method that tests multiple model specifications to account for potential confounding variables. They also examined how individual and country-level factors moderated the relationship between singlehood, personality, and life satisfaction.
The results showed that lifelong singles consistently reported lower levels of extraversion and conscientiousness compared to ever-partnered individuals. These differences were more pronounced among those who had never been in a long-term relationship or cohabitated with a partner. Lifelong singles also reported lower life satisfaction, with the gap being larger when singlehood was defined as never having been partnered.
Interestingly, neuroticism did not differ significantly between the two groups. “I was surprised that there were no average differences in neuroticism, as previous research suggested differences in neuroticism between current singles and currently partnered people,” Stern said.
Agreeableness also showed no significant differences, although exploratory analyses suggested that never-married individuals might be less agreeable than those who had been married. Lifelong singles were found to have slightly lower openness to experience, but this result varied depending on the specific definition of singlehood.
“There are, on average, small differences in life satisfaction, extraversion, and conscientiousness between lifelong singles and ever-partnered individuals,” Stern told PsyPost. “However, these results might not be transferable to an individual person, as there are many different circumstances affecting these differences (e.g., gender, age, and the normativity of being in a relationship).”
The study also revealed important moderating factors. For instance, the personality and life satisfaction gaps between singles and partnered individuals were smaller among older participants and women. Higher income was associated with smaller differences in conscientiousness, suggesting that financial stability may buffer some of the challenges faced by lifelong singles. At the country level, the proportion of single individuals and gender ratios influenced the findings, with larger personality and life satisfaction gaps observed in countries with higher proportions of men or singles.
Despite its strengths, the study had some limitations. Its cross-sectional design prevented the researchers from determining whether the observed differences were caused by singlehood or pre-existing personality traits that influenced relationship status. Additionally, the brief measure of personality traits used in the study may not have captured the full complexity of these characteristics.
“We do not know why these differences occur and how long they last,” Stern said. “It might be selection effects (i.e., people with a particular personality are more likely to enter a relationship or stay single), socialization effects (i.e., being in a relationship changes your personality in a specific direction), or anything else (e.g., experiencing specific life events that differ between groups change your personality, such as divorce or separation; any other variables such as health or social support may differ between the groups and lead to changes in personality, etc).
“Another caveat is that we only compared lifelong singles to ever-partnered individuals and didn’t compare them to, for example, current singles. A within-group perspective on singles would help us better understand their individual experiences.”
Future research could adopt a longitudinal approach to explore how personality and well-being evolve over time in lifelong singles. Understanding the specific experiences and challenges of this group could inform the development of targeted interventions to promote their well-being. Researchers could also examine younger cohorts to see if changing cultural norms around relationships and marriage influence these dynamics.
“My long-term goal is understanding why these differences between the groups occur (i.e. overcome the caveats) and what specific circumstances make (lifelong) singles thrive,” Stern said. “As a next step, we need to follow different groups people over multiple years to display their development and unique experiences.”
The study, “Differences Between Lifelong Singles and Ever-Partnered Individuals in Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction,” was authored by Julia Stern, Michael D. Krämer, Alexander Schumacher, Geoff MacDonald, and David Richter.