Relationship Status and Life Satisfaction
With Valentines Day coming up, perhaps you’re wondering whether couples really are happier than single people. myPersonality had a look at the relationship between Facebook Relationship Status and Life Satisfaction. Unfortunately for the single people out there, those smug couples you see really are smug for a good reason – they do tend to be happier than single people.
As can be seen in the below graph, the happiest people are those that are married, followed by those that are engaged. Surprisingly, people who say that their relationship is “complicated” are just as satisfied as single people. That suggests that even if a relationship goes wrong, it won’t be any worse than not having one at all. So our advice is that if you’re interested in someone, tell them! What’s to lose? However, there’s no point just ringing up that person you spent a drunken night with last week, as being in an open relationship also won’t improve your life satisfaction.
Method & Results
Only myPersonality users who have answered the full Satisfaction with Life Scale, and who have set a relationship status on their Facebook profile are included. The following table details the means for each group.
| Facebook Relationship Status | N | Mean SWL Score | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Married | 2718 | 24.8 | 6.9 |
| Engaged | 582 | 24.1 | 6.9 |
| In a Relationship | 3899 | 23.8 | 6.9 |
| Single | 9659 | 21.9 | 7.2 |
| In an Open Relationship | 103 | 21.8 | 6.7 |
| It’s Complicated | 524 | 21.1 | 7.2 |
Hey David, I really love those results. However, it is really suspicious to me that married people are on average more satisfied than those who are engaged. It ruins my life-philosophy ;)
I can bet that there is something underlying the relationship between relationship status and SWL score…, maybe you should consider controlling for age?
to the complicated once come on get with the program its only gonna keep being complicated and sometimes we just need to grow out of it. It gets old and well the stress will age you. Old habits are hard to brake but once u start taking care of your self you ll see a complete difference in how you actually are which will actually make you a happier person
i completely agree, it self-explanitory. I’m thirty one years old, and all my friends are either married, with children, or are engaged. I definitely feel some huge gaping hole in my life which i feel was only meant to be filled with a husband and children to add satisfaction to my indeed dull life.
I think direction of association needs to be established before making recommendations on lifestyle changes. For example, it could be that those who are satisfied with life are more easily satisfied in general, hence they stay in relationships for longer because they are satisfied with their partners. On the contrary, those with neurotic traits may be dissatisfied with their partners because they cannot easily overlook small flaws or otherwise have difficulties staying in a long term relationship. Or a confounding factor such as underlying personality and attitude to social relationships in general might contribute both to life satisfaction and approach to intimate relationships.
I also agree with MKosinski that controlling for age and other factors is necessary. It would be relevant to consider having children as this is generally associated with higher life satisfaction, and married couples are more likely to have children. It would also be interesting to look at hometown/current location and religion for its cultural implications on relationship status. And although it might not be possible on facebook, it might be relevant to control for financial status, as there is evidence to show that many couples are delaying marriage for financial reasons due to the increasing costs of modern weddings. Sexual orientation would also be another interesting one to look at as some countries have laws against same-sex marriage, and these countries are more likely to have social stigma surrounding same-sex relationships that may decrease life satisfaction for those who are attracted to the same sex.
I would be interested in viewing more detailed data such as demographics of each relationship status category if they are available.