A study of individuals between 18 and 75 years of age who do not have a romantic partner found that those having a greater desire for a partner tended to have a lower quality of life. This association between greater desire for a partner and lower quality of life was much stronger in those above 49 years of age than in individuals below 24. The study was published in Personal Relationships.
In the past several decades, the share of people who are single i.e., who are not in a romantic relationship has increased greatly. Individuals who are single can be single because they never married or had a romantic partner, because they are separated divorced or because they are widowed. Some of these individuals are single because they do not wish to have a partner, but some of them remain single because they are unable to find a romantic partner.
Since the 1970s, the typical age of marriage has increased. While a century ago people tended to marry in their late teens or early 20s, the typical age of marriage has shifted now towards late 20s and early 30s. In 2022, in the United States, median age of marriage for men was 30 years and it was 28 years for women. Along with this, divorce became more common, particularly in individuals aged 50 or above. This has dramatically increased the share of individuals in the population who are single.
Studies have shown that single individuals who report a stronger desire for having a romantic partner tend to also report being less satisfied with their life. Study author Laetitia Hill Roy and her colleagues wanted to explore whether this association changes with age. They noted that it might be harder for older individuals to find a partner and this might influence the relationship between the desire to have a partner and life satisfaction.
To explore this idea, the researchers conducted an online survey. The survey included 1,514 men, 1,532 women, and 11 people who identified as non-binary. All of the participants were single, meaning they were not in a romantic relationship. They were recruited between December 2020 and June 2021 through a website called Prolific.
The average age of the participants was 36 years old, and their ages ranged from 18 to 75. They answered questions about how much they wanted a partner, how satisfied they were with their lives, and their attachment style in relationships.
The results showed that age was not related to life satisfaction in general. However, older people tended to have slightly lower levels of desire for a partner. Participants who reported higher life satisfaction tended to have a slightly lower desire for a partner. Further analysis showed that this link between wanting a partner and lower life satisfaction was mainly present in people over 48 years old and to some extent in those around 36 years old. It wasn’t seen in younger participants under 26 years old.
In other words, older people who really wanted a partner tended to be less satisfied with their lives. On the other hand, older people who didn’t want a partner as much tended to be more satisfied. This relationship held true even when the researchers took into account attachment insecurity, which is the tendency to feel fear, anxiety, and mistrust in relationships based on early life experiences.
“The present findings suggest that the relationship between desire for a partner and life satisfaction is moderated by age, such that singles who hold a relatively strong desire for a romantic partner exhibit relatively low levels of life satisfaction particularly if they are older (vs. younger). Using a subset of data for which attachment scores were available, we found that this effect held accounting for effects of attachment insecurity,” the study authors concluded.
The study makes an important contribution to the scientific understanding of the link between romantic relationships and life satisfaction. However, it also has limitations that need to be taken into account. Notably, the study design does not allow any cause-and-effect conclusions to be made. Additionally, the survey was conducted in late 2020 and early 2021, the time when the COVID-19 pandemic and associated physical distancing and lockdown measures were still in place. Results might not be the same had the study been conducted in a different time period.
The study, “Age moderates the link between relationship desire and life satisfaction among singles”, was authored by Laetitia Hill Roy, Yoobin Park, and Geoff MacDonald.