A new study published in the journal Personal Relationships suggests that single people who feel their basic psychological needs are met tend to experience higher life satisfaction and fewer depressive symptoms. The findings indicate that beyond these universal needs, having a secure attachment style and viewing singlehood as a personal choice rather than a result of external barriers are significant predictors of a satisfying single life.
The number of single adults has increased significantly in recent years, prompting psychologists to investigate what factors contribute to a high quality of life for this demographic. Historically, relationship research has focused heavily on the dynamics of couples, often treating singlehood merely as a transitional stage or a deficit. When researchers did study singles, they typically categorized them simply as those who chose to be single versus those who did not. This binary perspective fails to capture the complexity of the single experience.
The researchers behind the new study sought to understand the specific psychological characteristics that explain why some individuals thrive in singlehood while others struggle. By examining factors ranging from broad human needs to specific attitudes about relationships, the team aimed to clarify the internal and external forces that shape single well-being.
“Much of the research on single people has focused on deficits—that singles are less happy or lonely to partnered people,” said study author Jeewon Oh, an assistant professor at Syracuse University.
“We wanted to ask instead: When do single people thrive? We wanted to identify what actually predicts a good single life from understanding their individual differences. We know that people need to feel autonomous, competent, and related to others to flourish, but it wasn’t clear whether relationship-specific factors like attachment style or reasons for being single play an important role beyond satisfying these more basic needs.”
To investigate these questions, the scientists conducted two separate analyses. The first sample consisted of 445 adults recruited through Qualtrics Panels. These participants were older, with an average age of approximately 53 years, and were long-term singles who had been without a partner for an average of 20 years. This demographic provided a window into the experiences of those who have navigated singlehood for a significant portion of their adulthood.
The second sample was gathered to see if the findings would hold true for a different age group. This group included 545 undergraduate students from a university in the northeastern United States. These participants were much younger, with an average age of roughly 19 years. By using two distinct samples, the researchers hoped to distinguish between findings that might be unique to a specific life stage and those that apply to singles more generally.
The researchers used a series of surveys to assess several psychological constructs. First, they measured the satisfaction of basic psychological needs based on Self-Determination Theory. This theory posits that three core needs are essential for human well-being: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy refers to a sense of volition and control over one’s own life choices. Competence involves feeling capable and effective in one’s activities. Relatedness is the feeling of being connected to and cared for by others.
In addition to basic needs, the study assessed attachment orientation. Attachment theory describes how people relate to close others, often based on early life experiences. The researchers looked at two dimensions: attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. Attachment anxiety is characterized by a fear of rejection and a strong need for reassurance. Attachment avoidance involves a discomfort with intimacy and a preference for emotional distance.
The team also measured sociosexuality and reasons for being single. Sociosexuality refers to an individual’s openness to uncommitted sexual experiences, including their desires, attitudes, and behaviors regarding casual sex. For the reasons for being single, participants rated their agreement with statements categorized into domains such as valuing freedom, perceiving personal constraints, or feeling a lack of courtship ability.
The most consistent finding across both samples was the importance of basic psychological need satisfaction. Single individuals who felt their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were being met reported significantly higher life satisfaction and satisfaction with their relationship status. They also reported fewer symptoms of depression.
This suggests that the foundation of a good life for singles is largely the same as it is for everyone else. It relies on feeling in control of one’s life, feeling capable, and having meaningful social connections, which for singles are often found in friendships and family rather than romantic partnerships.
Attachment style also emerged as a significant predictor of well-being. The data showed that higher levels of attachment anxiety were associated with more depressive symptoms. In the combined analysis of both samples, attachment anxiety also predicted lower satisfaction with singlehood. People with high attachment anxiety often crave intimacy and fear abandonment. This orientation may make singlehood particularly challenging, as the lack of a romantic partner might act as a constant source of distress.
The study found that the specific reasons a person attributes to their singlehood matter for their mental health. Participants who viewed their singlehood as a means to maintain their freedom and independence reported higher levels of satisfaction. These individuals appeared to be single because they valued the autonomy it provided.
In contrast, those who felt they were single due to constraints experienced worse outcomes. Constraints included factors such as lingering feelings for a past partner, a fear of being hurt, or perceived personal deficits. Viewing singlehood as a forced circumstance rather than a choice was linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms.
The researchers examined whether sociosexuality would predict well-being, hypothesizing that singles who are open to casual sex might enjoy singlehood more. However, the results indicated that sociosexuality did not provide additional explanatory power once basic needs and attachment were taken into account. While the desire for uncommitted sex was correlated with some outcomes in isolation, it was not a primary driver of well-being in the comprehensive models.
These findings suggest that a “sense of choice” is a multi-layered concept. It is not just about a simple decision to be single or not. Instead, it is reflected in how much autonomy a person feels generally, whether their attachment style allows them to feel secure without a partner, and whether they interpret their single status as an alignment with their values.
“The most important takeaway is that single people’s well-being consistently depends on having their basic psychological needs met—feeling autonomous, competent, and connected to others,” Oh told PsyPost. “However, beyond that, it also matters whether someone has an anxious attachment style, and whether they feel like they are single because it fits their values (vs. due to constraints). These individual differences are aligned with having a sense of choice over being single, which may be one key to a satisfying singlehood.”
The study has some limitations. The research relied on self-reported data collected at a single point in time. This cross-sectional design means that scientists cannot determine the direction of cause and effect. For example, it is possible that people who are already depressed are more likely to perceive their singlehood as a result of constraints, rather than the constraints causing the depression.
The demographic composition of the samples also limits generalizability. The participants were predominantly White and, in the older sample, mostly women. The experience of singlehood can vary greatly depending on gender, race, cultural background, and sexual orientation. The researchers noted that future studies should aim to include more diverse groups to see if these psychological patterns hold true across different populations.
Another limitation involved the measurement of reasons for being single. The scale used to assess these reasons had some statistical weaknesses, which suggests that the specific categories of “freedom” and “constraints” might need further refinement in future research. Despite this, the general pattern—that voluntary reasons link to happiness and involuntary reasons link to distress—aligns with previous scientific literature.
Future research could benefit from following single people over time. A longitudinal approach would allow scientists to observe how changes in need satisfaction or attachment security influence feelings about singlehood as people age. It would also be valuable to explore how other personality traits, such as extraversion or neuroticism, interact with these factors to shape the single experience.
The study, “Who Lives a Good Single Life? From Basic Need Satisfaction to Attachment, Sociosexuality, and Reasons for Being Single,” was authored by Jeewon Oh, Arina Stoianova, Tara Marie Bello, and Ashley De La Cruz.
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