Single people are often associated with loneliness and with a constant search for a partner. This explains why at every family reunion you are likely to hear dreadful questions and comments regarding your love life. But you can now fight back because science is backing up the claim that staying single could improve your life!
How staying single could improve your life
Married couples might chuckle and jokingly agree that staying single could improve your life, and wouldn’t they know.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the marital status as there are to staying single, but since the latter tend to be frowned upon even nowadays, it might make you feel better that science keeps gathering proof that you fend well on your own and your health too.
You’re more likely to be fit
Do you know how married couples tend to let go of themselves and gain a few extra pounds as time go by? The opposite is true for singles.
According to a study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, the singles tend to work out more frequently and for longer. This gap is more noticeable for males than females, though.
You engage more with others
According to a 2016 research, you tend to contact your network of friends more and to be available for them more too. You are also more likely to keep close ties with your parents and siblings and to work to maintain that relationship, providing support when needed.
Moreover, you are also more likely to engage with your community and contribute to its wellbeing and stability.
You take better care of yourself
The time you don’t spend on running a family, you spend on yourself.
You tend to eat healthier because you eat what you want without having to have others into consideration. Also, you don’t have to face other people’s bad mood in your home, nor any common miniburst so frequent between couples. As a result, you have less tendency to stress/angry eating.
Since you have more time for yourself, you are more likely to engage in leisure and relaxing activities too.
You become more resilient and self-sufficient
Considering you always had to fend for yourself and had to face the world without the protection of a love bubble and partner, you are better prepared.
You have become self-sufficient or at least are aware of your stronger and weaker features and you’ve learned tricks to overcome them. You are also more resilient than couples since you every time you were thrown down, you had to get back on your feet alone.
In fact, the RAND Corporation ran a study to support soldiers wounded after 9/11 and to help them become well-adjusted once again. In the process, the authors discovered that single soldiers were much more resilient than married ones, being less likely to suffer from PTSD or become obese while bouncing back faster from their injuries.
Your finances are more stable
Two salaries represent more income, but also more spendings. Single people tend to have a better control over their finances because they know what to expect and can easily assess the financial consequences of their decisions.
Also, they won’t be facing any bad surprises as some couples do when one of them is not as restricted in his or her spending as the other.
Self-realization becomes more important
When it comes to work and jobs, married couples worry mostly about financial security. However, as a 1998 research had already revealed and a more recent 2015 study confirmed, single people tend to focus on the meaningfulness of what they do.
They pay more attention and give more weight to intrinsic rewards, such as feeling competent, valued and happy with what they do, rather than to extrinsic rewards.
Single mothers are the exception, but it’s understandable since they have a dependable person to take care of and stable finances become more important than self-realization.
You sleep better
Sleep massively influences one’s health, and there are several studies attesting to this already. So here’s another point that proves that staying single could improve your life: single people sleep better and longer, according to a 2017 survey!
The reason is easier to understand. When you sleep alone, you are less likely to wake from someone’s movements, breathing, and noises. Besides, you can simply go to bed whenever you feel you’re ready and don’t depend or wait for your partner.
You’re just happier overall
Single people tend to be more fulfilled, have a stronger network of friends and family, financial stability, more rest and more time to do what they enjoy. The conclusion? Staying single could improve your life and can make you happier overall.
That is not to say that life is perfect. You’ll have ups and downs like everyone else. Likewise, being married doesn’t entail misery necessarily. The extra pounds they might gain are even a clue as loving couples tend to put on weight.
If you still not convinced, check Bella DePaulo talk below, a renown sociologist devoted to studying the struggles and benefits of staying single.
