THE 'DIFFERENT PERSONALITY TRAITS' THAT SINGLE PEOPLE HAVE, PER STUDY

Recently published research has found indications that single people may have or develop different personalities and be less satisfied with life than people in long-term relationships.

According to researchers writing in the journal Psychological Science, people who aren't in relationships over longer periods can develop "different personality traits compared to partnered people."

"Lifelong singles are less extraverted, less conscientious and less open to experience, compared to partnered people," the researchers said.

"When there are differences, they might be especially important in elderly people who face more health issues and financial issues," said Julia Stern of the University of Bremen, addressing the challenges faced by singletons as age and dependency issues kick in.

So-called "lifelong singles" score lower on life satisfaction tests, the team found after a doing a survey of around 77,000 people across 27 European countries.

On January 3, a team from the University of Cambridge and Fudan University published the results of their separate study of around 42,000 people in the UK, concluding that loneliness can impair the immune system and leave people more vulnerable to diseases such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Carried by the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the findings followed the publication in 2022 by the American Heart Association of research suggesting that "social isolation and loneliness" could mean a 30% increased risk of heart attack or stroke and the publication in June last year of research by Harvard University suggesting loneliness increases stroke risk by more than 50%.

"We know that social isolation and loneliness are linked to poorer health, but we’ve never understood why," said the University of Cambridge’s Chun Shen, who explained "a number of proteins" seem to play a "key role" as they were more common in people who said they felt lonely.

2025-01-21T09:23:24Z