Research led by Elaine Hoan, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology, and Professor Geoff MacDonald was recently featured in the Toronto Star. Their study finds that single women have a higher overall well-being than single men. They surveyed nearly 6,000 people, asking how satisfied participants are with their current relationship status, how satisfied they are with their life, how sexually fulfilled they are, and how much they want to be in a relationship.
The study didn't examine why single women tend to be happier than single men, but Hoan and MacDonald have some theories.
“When you think about the negative parts of getting into a relationship, more of that might fall on women,” MacDonald said, referring specifcally to how women are often epected to take care of housework. “So there’s kind of less of a cost for women to stay single than there is for men.”
Hoan and MacDonald also suggests that women generally have more social connections and social support outside of a relationship.