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

June 26, 2008, Self-Help

Comments on "The New SAT (Singles Aptitude Test) – Help Me Create It"

The New SAT (Singles Aptitude Test) – Help Me Create It

By Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. on June 26, 2008 in Living Single

I want to create a new SAT - the Singles Aptitude Test. Think of it as a subversive guide for the single and savvy. Read More

Singles with Attitude Test

Submitted by Rachel on June 27, 2008 - 2:41pm.

I love it! I've even learned a few things...

I have to be nit-picky about the last question, though... Somehow God doesn't seem to fit in there: he's not really a person... Maybe instead of God maybe Ralph Nader would make more sense or Condi Rice. On the other hand, it's an interesting jolt one gets contemplating God as a single guy...

I'll have to ponder additions...

JEE-ZUS

Submitted by Wiebe on September 21, 2009 - 10:20am.

Jesus is always a funny answer and he was a man. I vote for Jesus. Stephen Colbert uses him all the time for a laugh.

Additional Questions

Submitted by Rachel on June 27, 2008 - 3:18pm.

How about turning another of your posts into questions?

Who was Ted Sorensen's great love affair?
A. His wife, Gillian Sorensen
B. His boss, President John F. Kennedy

Not sure about other options since I don't know about Sorensen... (answer is B...)

During the 1800s, who did people express love to?
A. Their sweetheart
B. Their family
C. Their friends
D. All of the above

(Answer is D based on the Coontz quote)

Was thinking the same thing

Submitted by D.C. on June 28, 2008 - 12:30pm.

I, too, was thinking that you could use data from your book to create a "SAT," such as...

According to Study "X," singe individuals generally describe their personal levels of happiness as:
(a) Comparable to married people
(b) Above married people
(c) The same as married people

thanks, D.C.

Submitted by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. on June 29, 2008 - 1:43am.

Yes, I guess I should tap my own work! Thanks for the suggestion.

great -- thanks!

Submitted by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. on June 27, 2008 - 8:34pm.

Love your suggestions, Rachel -- thanks! I hear you about the God option. The idea came from the title of one of those little books; it was something like, "Even God is single, so stop giving me a hard time." I do like the jolt part of it.

ha ha!

Submitted by lkt on June 30, 2008 - 6:32pm.

I read that book too...Hitler was married, and the author wrote something like "married people are clearly not superior." Obviously!

It bothers me that married people are assumed to be more mature than singles. Here is a question based on my own experience:

A 26 year old single woman went to a wedding one weekend. The reception hall was divided into two parts - the more cramped part, segregated from the main room by a narrow doorway and short stairs, was reserved for this population:

A. Children
B. Parents with children
C. Singles
D. Singles and children

The answer is D. The married couples got the good seats in the main room, near the bar and buffet. Single people, apparently synonymous with children, were cast aside, as it felt. Not even the parents of the younger children had to sit back there. Nope, the parents and married couples (even couples who were younger than me!) got to sit in the main room. So we had to deal with the noise and kids running underfoot, as well as the longer trip to the food, bar, etc. Just a tad insulting.

Way too feminacentric

Submitted by Martian Bachelor on April 12, 2009 - 6:38am.

I'm a life-long single and I flunked big. So the test is a bust as far as I'm concerned.

Oh well, I do have an old Mueller cartoon posted on my fridge... it shows an alien who has just landed, and is telling an Earth representative: "If you send Julia Roberts into space, we'll destroy who."

To me it's plausible that women going to chick flicks and reading chick lit *decreases* their "singleness aptitude".

I'm actually proud to be totally ignorant of all things Ken and Barbie...

When I hear people make

Submitted by Elizabeth on August 30, 2009 - 8:58pm.

When I hear people make comments indicating that those who are married are healthier, better people than those who are single, I like to remind them that Saddam Hussein was a husband and father, while Pope John Paul II was single, childless and celibate. One murdered hundreds of Kurds, the other uplifted and inspired people worldwide.