This Just in: Being Single May Be the Best Thing for Your Health

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of singles roaming the nation has outnumbered those who are coupled up ever since the year 2014. 50.2% of American adults are single, and will be single for the majority of their adult lives. This more than doubles the 1950 statistic of 22%. But what does the rising normalcy of adult singleness mean? Is it a sad, bleak "Black Mirror'"dystopian reality, or a godsend for the estimated 126 million single adults out there?Science suggests that staying single is the single best way for women to maintain their quality health.Psychologist Bella dePaulo suggests that you may have read otherwise, as in, "it's better for your health to have another half," due to faulty studies in which married people are considered "married," and those who have never married or gotten divorced are "single". This doesn't account for the negative impact that divorce could be having on the "single," group's wellness. In an interview with Refinery 29, DePaulo describes that in a drug study, those who were consistently taking the drug (a metaphor for marriage... bare with us) would be separated from those who had stopped taking the drug after adverse effects, and those who had never taken the drug. So there, science. 

Single People's Independence Works for ThemLooking at 814 studies, DePaulo discovered that when single people displayed autonomy, it positively impacted their lives and enriched their life experiences and relationships. Of those coupled-up people, autonomy was correlated with more quarrels, and lower relationship and overall life satisfaction. 

Single People Are More SocialKind of counterintuitive, that a coupled-up person may feel lonelier than one who is straight-up single, but it makes sense upon further thought. Single people tend to rely on a broad array of friends for social stimulation, while a couple may be quite comfy staying in, and only chatting with one another for extended periods. 

Single People Are More Likely to be Lifelong LearnersWhen you're single and mingling, you may meet a greater variety of people, informing your worldview. DePaulo also suggests that single people don't rely on the construct of marriage to lend meaning to their lives, and thus, get creative with attributing meaning in new and interesting ways, for a greater likelihood of learning and growing than if they had decided to get married earlier on.