New US research has found that people who spend years being married are not that much happier later in life than those who have spent a lifetime being single.
Of the participants, 79 percent were married throughout their life, spending the majority of it in one marriage; eight percent were consistently single or spent most of their lives unmarried; and 13 percent had a mixed relationship history, which varied between being in a relationship, being single, getting divorced, remarrying or being widowed.
Those who had been married for most of their lives answered a 4 out of 5 on how happy they were, while those who had been single for most of their lives reported a close 3.82, and those with a varied relationship history answered a 3.7. "People often think that they need to be married to be happy, so we asked the questions, 'Do people need to be in a relationship to be happy? Does living single your whole life translate to unhappiness? What about if you were married at some point but it didn't work out?'" said co-author Dr. William Chopik."Turns out, staking your happiness on being married isn't a sure bet.