Sunday, August 2, 2026
Science

Settling down vs. settling: New study proves being single beats a bad relationship

While society often assumes that finding a romantic partner is the ultimate key to happiness, tracking relationship changes over time reveals a distinctly different reality. A massive longitudinal study proves that individuals actually experience higher emotional well-being when they are single comp...

Settling down vs. settling: New study proves being single beats a bad relationship
Image: Phys.org
While society often assumes that finding a romantic partner is the ultimate key to happiness, tracking relationship changes over time reveals a distinctly different reality. A massive longitudinal study proves that individuals actually experience higher emotional well-being when they are single compared to when they are enduring a poor- or moderate-quality relationship. Ultimately, while a high-quality partnership does boost overall happiness, the data confirms that settling for an unfulfilling romance takes a far heavier psychological toll than simply embracing singlehood.

Originally published at Phys.org

The Morning Briefing

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Be the first to receive the latest news, market analysis and updates — delivered straight to your inbox.