Better alone than poorly accompanied? Science proves this may be true

Having a partner to share the good times, go out to eat, prepare a meal at home, go to the movies and stay together in winter is the desire of many people – after all, it is difficult to find someone who says they prefer to be alone.

In fact, being in a romantic relationship is often associated with mental and physical health benefits, such as reducing levels of anxiety and depression and strengthening the cardiovascular system.

However, this positive effect will only happen if this relationship is really satisfying. Otherwise, science proves that being single can really be better, especially in the beginning of adult life.

Medicine or Poison: It all depends on the quality of the relationship

The study that corroborates what your mother and grandmother have been telling you for years was led by researcher Ashley B. Barr, a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University at Buffalo in New York State.

In 2013, Dr. Ashley had already done research with people of African American origin that linked instability in affective relationships to symptoms of depression, alcohol abuse and a worsening of the individual’s perception of their own well-being.

Faced with these results, the researcher decided to test whether these effects would be repeated in a different population – and that actually happened. For the new study, the team of Dr. Ashley interviewed young white adults from rural Yowa, United States, from families with a married father and mother.

Questions were asked about the satisfaction brought by the relationship; the level of hostility, criticism, support, kindness and affection received from the partner; and the commitment of individuals. In addition, the researchers asked the population about the partner’s behavior outside the relationship, asking about the occurrence of attitudes that deviate from currently accepted social and sexual standards.

The conclusion of Dr. Ashley was that it’s not really being committed that has health benefits, but being in a long-term, high-quality relationship. The longer people remain in relationships with these characteristics, the better their physical and mental condition.

On the other hand, being in an unsatisfactory relationship brings health damage, which becomes more intense as time passes. In comparison to this case, people tend to have better general conditions when they end a bad relationship as soon as possible or when they simply choose to remain single.

It’s not just the marriage that matters

According to Dr. Ashley, most of the scientific studies that relate the degree of satisfaction obtained in the love relationship with the health of individuals are carried out with married people.

However, in their two surveys, most respondents were not married, showing that relationships such as dating and other types of relationships other than marriage also affect health.

The researcher points out that this data becomes even more important when we remember that, nowadays, people take longer to get married compared to previous generations, as there is a tendency to privilege studies and careers.

In the transition between the final years of youth and the beginning of adulthood, the current generation seems to face much more instability in their relationships – so much so that two-thirds of respondents reported having experienced major changes in their love relationships in the last two years. In this way, the damage to health arising from affective relationships can be even more intense than in the past.

That is, as much as the idea of ​​being in a relationship seems attractive, it is not a guarantee of happiness and well-being. So, even if a breakup or being single can be a little scary, try to remember what your grandmother used to say: better alone than poorly accompanied!