Although everyone experiences singlehood, people's experiences and satisfaction with singlehood have not been as thoroughly examined as people's experiences with romantic relationships. However, single people make up a heterogeneous group and the proportion of single people is rising in many places (Jones & Gubhaju, 2009; Lee & Payne, 2010; U.S. Census Bureau, 2020), making it particularly timely to identify predictors of a satisfying single life. Across a series of studies, this dissertation aimed to examine psychological factors underlying a satisfying single life. First, I examined how attitudes about romantic relationships changed and their links to well-being (Study 1). Expectations toward relationships at the societal level and individual level changed over time. Fewer people perceived marriage as a necessity in recent years. However, even among single people, those who perceived marriage as a necessity tended to report higher life satisfaction. Within individuals, people expected fewer benefits and fewer negatives from being in a relationship over time, and expectations had differential links with life satisfaction and singlehood satisfaction. Even though expectations and resulting singlehood satisfaction might be assumed to change because of major life events (e.g., job loss), trajectories of singlehood satisfaction were not moderated by most major life events except experiencing declines in self-rated health was associated with lower levels of singlehood satisfaction (Study 2). Asking long-term single people, I identified events that single people perceived to be influential for their singlehood (Study 3; e.g., experiences that highlighted their independence). Regardless of the actual event, perceiving the event to be positive predicted higher life satisfaction and singlehood satisfaction. I integrated findings across studies and discuss implications, limitations, and future directions.
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