Are singles better off living with a partner? Research suggests so
Transitioning from single life to a partnership, including moving in together, measurably increases life satisfaction, according to a new study by researchers in the UK and Germany.
The study, printed in the social psychology publication Journal of Personality, found that the transition into a partnership has the greatest effect on life satisfaction.
“The beginning of a partnership is the turning point for life satisfaction, and this is for the better—moving in together primarily brings stability. This is clearly evident in the data,” explained lead author Usama El-Awad from Germany’s University of Bielefeld.
According to the findings, the positive effect lasts for at least two years.
The researchers at the Universities of Bielefeld and Greifswald in Germany, as well as the University of Warwick in the UK based their analysis on data from 1,103 individuals collected through long-term studies in Germany and the UK.
Unlike older data, the researchers found no additional effect of marriage within a year of moving in together or shortly thereafter in more recent data. Effects were only observed in earlier surveys from around 1993.
“Marriage is less important in the early years of a relationship today than it was in the past, likely due to societal changes and growing acceptance of non-marital cohabitation,” El-Awad said.
Co-author Theresa Entringer from the University of Greifswald and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) said that life satisfaction improved uniformly across all groups studied with the start of a relationship and moving in together.
“The increase is independent of age, gender, income or education,” she said.
Not just a ‘honeymoon effect’
Anu Realo from the University of Warwick, another co-author, noted that the data shows life satisfaction increases with the transition into a partnership, at least in the first few years, and is not merely a short-lived “honeymoon effect.”
The findings contradict the previously widespread belief that people quickly return to a genetically determined baseline level of well-being after positive or negative events, Realo said.
The analysis was based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the UK’s long-term study Understanding Society (UKHLS).
Both studies repeatedly surveyed participants about their living conditions, life satisfaction, and other topics: the SOEP has surveyed around 20,000 households annually since 1984, while the UKHLS has surveyed about 40,000 households annually since 2009.
The researchers identified 1,103 individuals who were single and living alone at the time of at least one annual survey and who entered a partnership and moved in with their partner over the following two years.
If they stayed together — which was the case for the majority, according to the data — their life satisfaction was tracked for an additional two years. Some participants also married during this period.
