Why are you single?: Examining the influence of reasons for being single on the stereotypes associated with single adults

Abstract

AbstractIn the current work, consisting of 1 correlational study and 1 experiment (N = 534), we examined the societal acceptability of different reasons for being single and investigated whether there are differences in perceptions of single adults depending on the reason that they are single. In Study 1, we found that reasons for being single vary regarding how acceptable they are considered by others. Drawing on the stereotype content model, in Study 2, we found that a person’s reason for being single affects how others perceive them; specifically, we found that the reason a person is single appears to affect the extent to which they are perceived as warm, competent, and lonely. We also considered whether gender affected perceived competence, warmth, loneliness, and depression, but we did not find any significant gender differences. Our findings suggest that the reason a person is single affects how others perceive them. This work adds to the growing literature on singlehood by identifying that certain forms of singlehood may be seen as more acceptable and thus less likely to elicit negative responses from others.