Living Single

The truth about singles in our society.

Bella DePaulo is author of Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After. She teaches at UC Santa Barbara. See full bio

March 25, 2008, Relationships

Comments on "Today's Singles-Bashing Question: "Does Marriage Make You Smarter?""

Today's Singles-Bashing Question: "Does Marriage Make You Smarter?"

By Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. on March 25, 2008 in Living Single

The author, Nadine Marks, had data from more than 10,000 students who graduated from high schools in Wisconsin in 1957. When she looked at their marital status around age 54, she found that for the women (but not the men), those who were married were less intelligent than those who were divorced or separated or had always been single. Read More

Thank you, again, Bella.

Submitted by D.C. on March 25, 2008 - 8:33am.

Some of these headlines almost sound like a wind-up pitch for a joke: "Hey, did you hear the one about getting married and getting smarter..."

Here's a novel idea. You have an upcoming exam: Get married, take the exam, get divorced.

Thanks Bella for the intelligent insight.

Regards,
D.C.

uh

Submitted by Anonymous on March 27, 2008 - 1:21pm.

it seems from reading ur articles that u encourage people to be single. i think there are numerous studies about people living in solitude and unmarried and there's a link to heart disease and shorter lifespan. maybe because most of us DO want to get married ,have kids and spend life with a companion. humans need to survive and procreate (prof.kanazawa should have some good evidence to back it up , based on evolutionary psychology)
but i think its good that u help people who are single and teach them strategies to cope being single, but the whole mindset of 'single and happy' doesnt seems real to me...

that research is exaggerated or wrong

Submitted by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. on March 27, 2008 - 1:28pm.

To anonymous: Actually, those studies you have heard about, that claim that getting married makes you healthier, live longer, etc., are grossly exaggerated, misleading, or just plain wrong. I explain that in Ch 2 of my book, Singled Out. In the book (on p. 84), you will also find results from a Pew survey showing that "single and happy" is far more commonplace than you seem to assume. I am not arguing against coupling or marrying for those who want to do so. I'm against the stereotyping and stigmatizing of people who are single, and the inaccurate and misleading reporting of the implications of getting married or staying single. Finally, if you want to read Singled Out but cannot afford to buy it, send me your mailing address and I'll get a copy to you. Thanks for your thoughts. Bella

Can you debunk this too?

Submitted by Nancy Polikoff on March 31, 2008 - 6:53pm.

Last week, I blogged about a bus shelter poster campaign in Washington, DC. (www.beyondstraightandgaymarriage.blogspot.com) The posters have a bride and a groom and a statement. This "marriage promotion" campaign comes from a group that received almost $5 million in GOVERNMENT funding in 2006. (The group also supports abstinence-only sex education.) One of the posters reads: "Married people earn more money." Can you tell us what's wrong with that statement as an encouragement to marry?