Summary: A new study of single Americans aged 18 to 24 highlights the key role that satisfying friendships play in overall happiness. Researchers divided participants into five subgroups based on levels of happiness and five predictors: satisfaction with family, satisfaction with friends, self-esteem, neuroticism, and extraversion.
Those most satisfied with their friendships were happiest, while those least satisfied showed lower happiness. Friendship satisfaction emerged as a particularly strong factor for well-being in young, single adults.
Key Facts:
- Friend satisfaction is strongly linked to happiness in young, single adults.
- The study divided individuals into five subgroups based on their happiness predictors.
- Those with low neuroticism and high friendship satisfaction were the happiest.
Source: PLOS
A new analysis assesses the heterogeneity of factors linked with happiness among single Americans who are just entering adulthood, highlighting a particularly strong link between happiness and satisfying friendships.
Lisa Walsh of the University of California, Los Angeles, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on October 2, 2024.
Prior research suggests that Americans in their early 20s may be less happy, on average, than at other points in their lives. Meanwhile, a growing percentage of young adults are not in long-term romantic relationships, and researchers are increasingly studying single people as a distinct group, without conventional comparisons to coupled people.
However, few studies have focused on distinct categories of single people, such as younger adults. To better understand these individuals’ experiences, Walsh and colleagues analyzed online survey data from 1,073 single American adults aged 18 to 24.
The survey included questions assessing participants’ overall happiness as well five predictors of happiness: satisfaction with family, satisfaction with friends, self-esteem, neuroticism, and extraversion.
To analyze participants’ answers, the researchers applied latent profile analysis, a research approach that assumes individuals fall into diverse subgroups within a population, instead of assuming a more homogeneous population, as traditional approaches often do.
The research team found that the heterogeneity of the young, single adults in their dataset was best represented by dividing them into five subgroups, or profiles, each with distinctive combinations of the five measured predictors, and each corresponding to a different level of happiness.
For instance, people in profile 1 were happiest and had favorable levels of all five predictors, including high friendship satisfaction and low neuroticism. Meanwhile, people in profile 5, who were least happy, had unfavorable levels of all five predictors.
Higher scores on some of the five predictors appeared to offset lower scores on others, with friendship satisfaction being particularly strongly linked to participants’ happiness.
On the basis of their findings, the researchers suggest that young, single adults might benefit from deliberately creating meaningful, long-term friendships. However, they note that further research is needed to clarify any cause-effect relationship between happiness and the five predictors they studied.
The authors add: “One of the standout findings from our study is how deeply friendships shape happiness for single emerging adults. We found that singles who were satisfied with their friendships tended to be happy with their lives, while those dissatisfied with their friendships were less happy. In short, the quality of your friendships is a key factor for your well-being, especially if you’re single.”
About this social neuroscience and psychology research news
Author: Hanna Abdallah
Source: PLOS
Contact: Hanna Abdallah – PLOS
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Heterogeneity in happiness: A latent profile analysis of single emerging adults” by Lisa Walsh et al. PLOS One
Abstract
Heterogeneity in happiness: A latent profile analysis of single emerging adults
Whether attending college, entering the workforce, or finding a romantic partner, single emerging adults navigate a pivotal stage of their lives. The present cross-sectional study sought to examine the heterogeneity in happiness of single emerging adults (N = 1,073) with a person-centered, group-differential approach.
Using five predictors of life satisfaction (friendship satisfaction, family satisfaction, self-esteem, neuroticism, and extraversion) as indicators in latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five distinct profiles (or groups) of young singles.
The profiles, ordered from favorable to unfavorable indicator patterns, presented diverse shape and level differences that corresponded to varying happiness levels.
Singles in Profile 1 with the most favorable indicator patterns (e.g., high friendship satisfaction, low neuroticism) were the happiest, while those in Profile 5 with the least favorable indicator patterns (e.g., low friendship satisfaction, high neuroticism) were the unhappiest.
In the middle profiles, singles often offset disadvantages in one area (e.g., high neuroticism) with advantages in others (e.g., high friendship satisfaction) to achieve average to somewhat high levels of happiness.
Importantly, friendship satisfaction emerged as a vital indicator, often distinguishing which singles were happy or not. Covariate analyses further validated the profiles and revealed additional profile differences (e.g., gender, anxiety, depression).
Overall, our findings underscore the essential role of satisfying friendships in promoting the well-being of single emerging adults.
