For some people, relationship status changes again and again. They are single, then married, then single again. Or they transition in and out of committed romantic relationships, even if they do not marry. In contrast, we usually think of personality as something that is at least somewhat stable.
Personalities and Other Characteristics of Single People (first section, below)
To understand personality as it relates to single life, I take several approaches. They include:
- What are the personalities and characteristics of people who stay single (lifelong single people)?
- What are the personalities and characteristics of people who are single at heart?
- What are the personalities and characteristics of people who are unafraid of being single?
- What are the personalities and characteristics of people who like spending time alone?
- What are the personalities and characteristics of people who are not currently coupled?
Types of Single People (different kinds of categories; second section, below)
People who are not married are a very diverse group. They include the lifelong single people as well as the previously married and those who are cohabiting but not married. They include people of different genders, gender and sexual identities, ability statuses, social classes, education levels, work statuses, and much more. They live in different places, geographically, and in different kinds of living situations.
Beyond those demographic differences, it is also possible to create other kinds of typologies of single people. The second section includes writings about some of those.
Personalities and Other Characteristics of Single People
The personalities and other characteristics of single people.
This is the most comprehensive overview of the topic, arranged in order of the 5 questions listed above. The main findings are mentioned briefly. In the other writings, below, the findings are discussed in more detail. Those articles also include some findings that were not included in this first article.
The badass personalities of people who like being alone.
This is one of the most popular blog posts I have ever written. It has been viewed well over a half-million times. It is about the personalities of people (1) who like being single and (2) who like spending time alone.
Fear not: The advantages of people unafraid to be single.
A team of scholars created a scale measuring the fear of being single. People who score as unafraid of being single have all sorts of advantages and empowering traits.
Characteristics of people who are single at heart
For people who are single at heart, single life is their best life – most meaningful, most authentic, and most fulfilling. It is not just a default or something they are stuck with.
The profound rewards of staying single
Not to spoil the ending, but the rewards include autonomy and personal growth.
Men and women who have always been single are doing fine
How personal mastery and self-sufficiency work especially well for lifelong single people.
Women who stayed single, no kids, in their 70s: How are they doing?
They are more optimistic, less stressed, and better off in other ways, too.
If you’ve been single all your life, you have a lot to be proud of
More about what lifelong singles do well, gleaned from the writings of previously married people who suddenly become single and have a hard time with it
Single people who like to avoid conflict, and what they get out of it
Single people are not any more likely to try to avoid conflict than coupled people are. But those who do like to avoid conflict are happier being single than those who don’t care about conflict avoidance.
Single people value freedom more and get more happiness out of it
Single people are less materialistic
People who stay single value meaningful work more than those who marry
Are single people more mature than married people?
Are single people less extraverted?
Types (Categories) of Single People
This is about women who stay single, though some of the categories are equally relevant to men. The word spinster is used in a way that reclaims it from its derogatory implications.
Why 5 types of people may withdraw from social life
If you are familiar with my work, you already know what one of the messages is going to be: Solitude can be psychologically healthy. Not all types of people who withdraw from social life are at risk.
3 kinds of loners, and how to be the best kind
“Loner” is another one of those words that has become an insult. But some people are loners in a very positive sense.
2 kinds of motivations for spending time alone
Another way of looking at different kinds of people who spend a lot of time alone.
5 kinds of introverts and their life-affirming ways
Not all single people are introverts, though most people who are single-at-heart seem to have strong introvert tendencies. Here are 5 kinds of introverts: social, introspective, restrained, those who like to think things through, and those don’t like too much stimulation
Vulnerable single people and resilient single people
A different kind of typology; it looks at people who thrive as singles and others who have a harder time.
Finally, this book is also relevant to the personalities of single people and the different types of single people:
Alone: The badass psychology of people who like being alone
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