Unattached men are more likely to experience negative emotions.
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem demonstrate that single people feel happier than those who settle for compromise and remain in difficult relationships.
Many have come to believe that having a partner is the main condition for a happy life. However, years of observing the dynamics of personal relationships debunk this stereotype. A large-scale study, during which researchers analyzed data from 12,000 participants, showed that the quality of the connection plays a far more important role than the mere fact of its existence. Continuing difficult, strained relationships inflicts serious psychological harm on a person and deprives them of emotional well-being.
In reality, people show a much higher level of life satisfaction and experience more positive emotions while being single than when remaining in an unsatisfactory union. Although an ideal partnership can indeed bring a person maximum satisfaction, the cost of compromise is too high. The work is published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
"Our results clearly indicate that it is not about having a partner," explains Professor Elyakim Kislev. "The decisive factor for our emotional health is the quality of relationships, not their formal existence. If the relationships are bad or even 'nonexistent,' a person's life satisfaction and positive emotions are significantly lower than when they are alone."
Researchers also found gender differences in the perception of loneliness. Unattached men are more likely to experience negative emotions than single women, although this difference is small. On the other hand, unmarried women reported a lower sense of security during periods of loneliness compared to men. Nevertheless, the overall scientific pattern is clear: for maintaining mental health, it is better to choose freedom than to agree to a destructive or mediocre union.
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