- Researchers say today’s teens are more likely to enjoy their single lifestyle
- Teenagers are less likely to be in a relationship than teenagers born ten years earlier
There’s nothing like being a teenager and falling in love for the first time.
But according to a study, today’s young people are more likely to be single – and not worried about it – than previous generations.
New research shows that people between the ages of 14 and 20 are more satisfied with being single than their peers from ten years ago.
Scientists from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz collected data on 2,936 participants from different birth cohorts in Germany.
The material covered two separate time periods – 2008 to 2011 and 2018 to 2021 – and participants were asked questions about their relationship status and satisfaction levels.
Researchers have found that today’s adolescents are more likely to be single than teens from a decade ago (stock image)
Analyzes found that those born between 2001 and 2003 were 3 percent more likely to be single and more satisfied with being single than those born ten years earlier.
Meanwhile, there seemed to be no significant differences between older age groups from different cohorts.
The findings could go some way to explaining why marriage rates around the world have fallen in recent decades, while divorce rates and the proportion of single-person households have risen.
Lead author Dr Tita Gonzalez Avilés said: ‘It appears that today’s adolescents are less likely to pursue a romantic relationship.
‘It is notable that, especially in Western industrialized countries, being alone is no longer unconventional and is now considered more socially acceptable than in the past.
‘This could well be the reason for the increased satisfaction with single people.’
The researchers found that today’s adolescents are less likely to pursue a romantic relationship or marriage and less concerned about being single due to changing relationship norms (stock image)
The researchers also note that attitudes toward romantic conventions have changed over time.
Younger people are more open to ‘diverse relationship types’ that deviate from conventional ideas of the monogamous relationship between two partners, including polyamory, one-night stands and ‘friends with benefits’.
“We assume that adolescents today may delay entering into a stable relationship because they value their personal autonomy and individual fulfillment over a romantic partnership,” says Gonzalez Avilés.
Although the difference in satisfaction between today and ten years ago is not very large, according to the researchers it differs from typical historical developments.
Writing in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, they suggest that this may be due to the fact that single life has become increasingly normative over time, especially among the younger generation.
“People today emphasize individualism and personal autonomy, and are increasingly accepting of different dynamics in relationships, including long-term singleness,” the researchers said.
‘We found that adolescents born between 2001 and 2003 are 3 percent more likely to be single compared to adolescents born 10 years earlier.
‘(This group) also reported reduced desire for a romantic partner.
‘However, this historical change was not observed among emerging and established adults, suggesting that adolescence is a particularly sensitive age period.’
Earlier this year, new research suggested that being single might not be such a bad thing, as experts described the idea of marital bliss as “largely a myth” with “hardly any evidence” that breaking the tie leads to a better life.
Scientists reviewed dozens of previous studies to examine the differences in suicide, depression, loneliness, physical health and happiness between people who are married and those who have never said yes.
They found that people who remain single tend to have “very similar outcomes” to those who are married, with “little evidence” that getting married results in lasting improvements in health or well-being.