Being single gets better with age, finds study

We are taught from a very young age the importance of companionship. When we are kids, we try to make friends with like-minded children. As we grow up, we step into the world of BFFs (best friends forever) and later we spend our time and energy finding the perfect life partner. All because we are human and we need company. So, under such social conditioning, being single or spending your life in your own company, is not something easily acceptable.

Although times are changing and being single is not looked down upon by the society, yet some amount of curiosity or sympathy is attached to those who don’t look for lifetime of companionship from another person. They would be considered a little different, the square pegs in round holes. Parents would always worry about their well-being, concerned friends would try at least a million times to find a match before giving up hope. Even it’s not easy for a person who wants to stay single forever, to tread the less travelled road. But would you be surprised if we tell you that being single gets easier with time?

According to a research conducted by scholars at the German Centre of Gerontology, “satisfaction with single life increased over time, historically, and with age, and how partnership status became less relevant to loneliness over time, and with age.”

Authors of the research Anne Boger and Oliver Huxfold studied the data collected from the German Ageing Survey, which included participants between the age group of 40 and 85 years over a period starting from 1996 to 2014. The researchers particularly concentrated on 2,552 participants from 2008 who were then again re-interviewed after six years in 2014.

One of the surprising findings of the research was that while people who stayed single reported having a satisfying life consistently as they grew older but people with romantic partners were not very convinced with their quality of life. Couples reported to have better lives initially but the quality decreased in their mid-life only to become better as they grew old.

Interestingly, people’s reaction to loneliness varied based on their relationship status or otherwise. According to the study, people who stayed single reported to be unaffected by loneliness or they experienced lower level of loneliness as they grew older. But people who were widowed after a long marriage, were the loneliest and people in a relationship or marriage often feared being lonely.

Although the research could not find any scientific reason behind why people who stayed single had more satisfying lives but the authors put forward some interesting observations. According to them, the stigma attached to being single becomes more bearable as people grow old and they meet like-minded people who had chosen the same path. As a result, they grow more confident and stop doubting their choice.

If you have made up your mind to stay single for life, it’s the right time to adopt the motto: Be single, be happy. Don’t let people’s judgment doubt your decision. What matters most is your happiness and if you can find it without taking the help of a companion, no one should stop you from having your share of happiness.

(All images used here are representational)