If you were asked to imagine a lifelong bachelor, a “crazy cat lady” might come to mind.
But a new study suggests that there are actually three key personality traits that reveal whether someone will remain single for life.
Researchers at the University of Bremen compared single people and those in relationships on their life satisfaction ratings and “Big Five” personality traits.
The results revealed that single people were less extraverted, less conscientious, and less open to experiences than married or partnered people.
Lifelong singles also scored lower on life satisfaction.
“There are differences between people who remain single throughout their lives and those who are in a relationship,” said Julia Stern, one of the authors of the study.
‘We have to take more care of these people. “If they have people looking after them or looking after them regularly, this could help.”
A new study suggests there are three key personality traits that reveal whether someone will remain single for life (file image)
Singles are less outgoing, less conscientious, and less open to experiences than people who were married or in a relationship.
Several previous studies have looked at the impacts of being single.
However, definitions of singlehood varied greatly: Many studies only considered participants’ current status, rather than their past relationship history.
To address this problem, the team recruited more than 77,000 people over the age of 50, who were divided into five groups.
These were: currently being in a relationship, never having lived with a partner, never being married, or never having been in a long-term relationship.
Participants completed surveys about their satisfaction with life, as well as their Big Five personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The results revealed that people who had never been in a serious long-term relationship scored lower on extraversion, openness, and life satisfaction than those who were currently single but had lived with a partner or been married in the past. .
The researchers also found key differences between cultures, genders and ages.
In countries with higher marriage rates, singlehood resulted in even lower life satisfaction scores.
Meanwhile, single women scored higher on life satisfaction than single men, while older people tended to be happier with their single status than middle-aged singles.
Researchers can’t definitively say whether personality differences are due to selection (people with certain personality types may be more likely to enter into relationships) or socialization (long-term relationships can change personalities).
However, they say the evidence points to selection.
“These selection effects are more likely to occur: for example, more extroverted people are more likely to get into a relationship,” Ms. Stern added.