The Big Five personality traits associated with lifelong singleness
The Big Five personality traits associated with lifelong singleness
By Ross Pomeroy | Published: 2025-01-17 15:53:00 | Source: Neuropsych – Big Think
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It’s trendy to be single. According to 2023 Data release According to the US Census Bureau, 46.4% of American adults were single, and the proportion of never-married adults reached record levels: 32% of women and 37% of men. These rates were 22% and 30% in 1980.
The increasing share of single and unmarried individuals can be attributed to several factors, including greater longevity and longer lifespans. More women in the workforce. And the trend toward singleness is here to stay if Generation Z is any indication. They adopted a new approach to interrelationship: “attitude.” Writing to CNNrecent college graduate Sarah Forasteri Vicente described it as “more of a friendship but less of a committed relationship” that includes “emotional and physical intimacy.”
“We have created our own little world in this vast universe of romance and love, a world that normalizes flexibility and casualness in romantic partners,” she wrote.
But is avoiding attachment a recipe for emotional satisfaction? If recent He studies Published in Psychological sciences Is there any indication, maybe not.
Personality traits and relationship status
An international team of researchers sampled more than 77,000 people over the age of 50 living in 27 European countries and Israel. They sought to compare the Big Five personality traits of lifelong individuals with those of people who were in committed relationships. The Big Five personality traits are:
- Openness. It reflects a person’s curiosity and receptivity to new experiences.
- Conscience. Describes how organized, responsible, and attentive a person is to detail.
- extroversion. It indicates how outgoing and sociable a person is.
- Accord. It represents how cooperative and sympathetic someone is.
- Nervousness. It measures how emotionally stable a person is.
The researchers found that lifelong singles reported lower levels of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. They also rated their life satisfaction lower than people who had never been in a partnership. Never-married individuals reported nearly identical scores of personality and life satisfaction as lifelong singles. However, they were a bit more extroverted.
Personality differences between single and partnered individuals were relatively small for conscientiousness and openness—about three points lower on a 100-point scale. But the gap was larger for extraversion and life satisfaction. Lifetime singles scored just below six points on extraversion and just below four points on life satisfaction.
In many respects, the results are consistent with traditional stereotypes. Extroverted and extroverted individuals are more likely to go out and meet people and possibly find themselves in a relationship. Moreover, partnership can also force individuals to try new things. Conscientiousness in a partner is often appreciated. Being organized and responsible makes dating and cohabitation easier. Relationships can also encourage individuals to develop these skills.
The authors looked specifically at older individuals because the data are more likely to capture people who are unmarried or partnered by choice. Older age also allows more time for these relationship decisions to influence personality.
Should Generation Z be concerned about these findings? Will a life full of “situations” end up being less satisfying and dull their personalities? It’s not certain. The basic aspects of an individual’s personality tend to be stable, but significant changes can occur over decades. Furthermore, the current study cannot analyze whether lifelong singles’ personalities and life satisfaction differ due to their relationship choices or if their personalities dictate their relationship style.
The researchers point out that the meaning of singleness is changing, so the results do not necessarily predict the future for today’s youth.
“Newer groups are likely to differ from older groups in norms and acceptance of singleness, given that the importance of marriage for well-being is declining, that more people are choosing to remain single, and that younger groups report less importance of partnership for happiness,” they write.
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