Living Single

The truth about singles in our society.

Bella DePaulo Ph.D.

Have People Living Alone Become Lonelier Since COVID-19?

Researchers expected people living alone to be more vulnerable to increased loneliness. Instead, people have tended to feel more supported, regardless of living arrangements.

Phonies Don’t Like Spending Time Alone; Authentic People Do

People who are true to themselves enjoy being alone. Solitude lovers are also curious about their feelings, even the negative ones.

How to Break Out of the Box that People Try to Stick You In

If you want to live an unconventional life, you may need to change your mindset. Many of the patterns and practices and assumptions all around you will need to be reimagined, too.

The Princess and the Narcissist: Matrimania in Classic Opera

Far too many movies and television shows rely on Noah's Ark plots—and classic opera is even worse.

Single in America: Is It Worse for Black or White People?

White people in the U.S. are more likely to be married. Laws and policies favor the married. But even when married, black people are still disadvantaged relative to white Americans

Read These Brilliant Black Authors to Understand Single Life

What black authors have to say about single life, including living alone, friendship, family, parenting, stereotypes, successes, myths, and the broader social context.

5 Ways President Trump’s Lies Hurt Him More Than They Help

A new book by the Washington Post fact-checkers acknowledges that Trump has often evaded the harsh consequences that have dogged other liars, but also offers a counter-narrative.

A Darker Side of Singlism: Discrimination in the Legal Code

Many memes and articles celebrate singlehood as a valid social lifestyle, but few actually challenge legalized discrimination against unmarried people.

Divorcing and Becoming a Contented Single Parent: 6 Stages

Getting divorced and becoming a contented single parent is a process, often with six phases. What seems devastating at first can turn into a story of resilience and contentment.

Biased Against Asexuals? Let Me Count the Ways

Heterosexuals feel more coldly toward asexuals, research suggests. And anti-asexual prejudice is linked to other prejudices.

Singles Under Quarantine: Are They Really Disadvantaged?

Has the conventional wisdom about the supposed deficiencies of single people resulted in misleading stories about how singles are faring during the pandemic?

If You Were Wrong About a Core Belief, Would You Admit It?

A story of single parenting, race, love, adoption, addiction, a new kind of family, and the ways in which nature sometimes prevails over nurture.

Who’s Safe? Living Alone May Be Better Than Youth or Wealth

Living with other people may increase your risk of having COVID-19 more than being old or poor. More infections may now come from exposure to family than any other known source.

Finding Solace in Solitude: It’s Not Just About Introversion

What does it take to feel good about the time you spend completely alone? It is not about being an introvert, but feeling authentic and in control.

7 Ways Young Women Combine or Decline Work, Marriage, and Kids

Today’s young women are forging their own paths, with different profiles of work and personal lives, and implications for their earnings and stress levels.

No One to Count on? Despite the Hype, That’s Just Not True

For Americans, confidence that family or friends will be there for them has increased over time, disrupting the popular trope that they are all alone.

What Is the Life of a Single Person Worth?

In the 9/11 victims’ compensation fund, in organ transplant decisions, and now in the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions are made about the relative values of different people’s lives.

The Truth About People Who Stay Single for Life

A decade of research shows that it is not lifelong singles who are most likely to become lonely or unhappy in later life. But they do have one big disadvantage.

Single With COVID-19: Will You Get the Treatment You Need?

Joan DelFattore, Ph.D., asks whether marital status might affect priority for coronavirus treatment if resources become scarce. Research on singlism suggests that it could.

7 Reasons People Shouldn't Worry They'll Regret Not Having Kids

In “How to Be Childless,” Rachel Chrastil explains how our fear of future regret is based on misunderstandings of happiness, humanity, our current selves, and our future selves.

What We Need Now: 3 Types of Cocooning

Are you about to spend more time home alone than you ever wanted? Let people who love their solitude show you how to curate your time and your place and transform your experience.

Erased: Single Women, a Key Voting Bloc, Are Getting Ignored

Single women vote overwhelmingly for Democrats when they vote. But candidates, pollsters, and major media are ignoring them. No one is asking for their vote.

Living Alone: Men and Women, Young to Old, Around the World

Living alone is a global phenomenon, especially popular in Europe and North America. But there is a different profile for older people than for younger adults.

The Power and Peril of Life Beyond Romantic Relationships

Three studies show that when people get emotional support, companionship, and personal growth outside of their romantic relationship, they think more about ending that relationship.

Our Longing for Belonging: Only Half the Human Condition

In the cover story in the Atlantic on the demise of the nuclear family, David Brooks speaks to our need for belongingness. But he doesn’t understand the significance of solitude.

5 Kinds of Introverts and Their Life-Affirming Ways

Introversion is more than our preferences for socializing. It is about what’s going on in our heads, the tempo of our lives, and the environments we like best.

21 Facts About People Who Never Have Children

Across the ages, people who never have kids have been taunted but also respected, and they have thrown some shade of their own.

New Era, New Beliefs: Singles Do Better, but the Married Feel Better

People of all marital statuses believe singles do better and married people feel better, and people who have experienced marriage view single life more positively.

What Does It Take to Live a Happy Life If You Stay Single?

What skills, interpersonal tools, or psychological characteristics would you need to live a happy single life? Are they any different than for married people?

No Kids, No Concern About the Future? Insulting and Wrong

In this guest post, Kristin Noreen shatters the stereotype that people without children have no investment in the future, arguing that they may do even more to protect the planet.

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