The study, titled “Sociodemographic and cultural factors are related to singlehood rates: A multilevel analysis across 59 countries from the World Values Survey,” underscores the need to view relationship choices within a broader cultural and economic context.
Whether someone remains single appears to depend not only on personal circumstances but also on the cultural values of the country where they live. A large international study published in PLOS One reports that age, income, and other traits relate to relationship status in different ways depending on national attitudes toward individualism and self-development.
The findings suggest that singlehood is shaped by broad cultural environments, not just individual preference or chance. Over recent decades, traditional family structures have shifted in many regions, from North America and Europe to parts of Asia. In these societies, the proportion of adults who are single has risen steadily, prompting researchers to explore the wider forces behind this trend.
How the cross-country study worked
Earlier sociological work has mainly focused on personal factors such as education, employment stability, and income. Psychologists Marta Kowal of the University of Wrocław and Katarzyna Adamczyk of Adam Mickiewicz University set out to examine how those factors interact with national culture. They proposed that the same demographic traits may have different effects in different cultural settings.
The team drew on data from the World Values Survey, which gathers detailed interview responses from residents around the globe. For this analysis, they used responses from 71,169 adults across 59 countries, collected between 2017 and 2021. All interviews were conducted face to face in participants’ homes.
Respondents were classified as partnered if they were married or living with a partner in a marriage-like relationship. Those who were single and had never married were placed in the single category, while people who were divorced, widowed, or separated were excluded from the main analysis. A follow-up analysis later reclassified divorced and widowed adults as single to check whether the patterns changed.
For each participant, the researchers gathered information on age, sex, hometown size, education level, income, and employment status. They then assigned a cultural profile based on the country of residence, using established national scores from the Minkov-Hofstede model. These scores capture deep-rooted value differences that tend to remain stable over time.
Cultural values: individualism and flexibility
The Minkov-Hofstede framework, widely used in cross-cultural research, maps countries along two key dimensions. The first is individualism versus collectivism, which reflects how much weight a society places on personal freedom compared with group obligations. Individualistic cultures emphasize autonomy and self-reliance, while collectivistic cultures prioritize tradition, family obligations, and social harmony.
The second dimension is flexibility versus monumentalism. Flexible cultures value adaptability, self-discipline, modesty, and long-term planning, including educational and career goals. Monumentalist cultures tend to celebrate a fixed and proud sense of self, encourage impulse satisfaction, and favor stable, enduring values over constant self-adjustment.
Using these cultural scores, Kowal and Adamczyk applied multilevel statistical models that could analyze individual- and country-level effects simultaneously. This approach allowed them to examine not only how personal traits correlate with singlehood, but also how those correlations shift across different cultural contexts. When divorced and widowed adults were added to the single group, the core statistical patterns remained largely unchanged.
Who is more likely to be single?
Across all 59 countries, several personal characteristics consistently predicted a higher likelihood of being single. Younger adults were more often single than older adults, which aligns with the fact that many people find partners and marry as they age. Men were more likely than women to be single, reflecting ongoing gender differences in relationship expectations and timing.
Living in larger towns and cities was also associated with higher singlehood rates. Urban residents may experience weaker pressure to marry, greater acceptance of varied lifestyles, and more opportunities for casual relationships. Previous studies have also linked urbanization to later marriage and lower fertility rates.
Education, income, and employment status played significant roles. People with higher education, lower income, and those who were unemployed were more likely to be single. Longer periods of education often delay entry into the labor market, which can postpone major milestones such as marriage. Economic insecurity resulting from low wages or unemployment can also discourage long-term commitments and major financial decisions.
These demographic patterns closely match earlier research on family formation. Many couples report delaying marriage until they feel financially stable, and rising living costs in urban centers have made that threshold harder to reach. In addition, more highly educated individuals often prioritize career development and personal growth before entering long-term partnerships.
The role of national culture
Beyond personal traits, national culture itself was directly associated with relationship status. Residents of countries with higher levels of individualism were more likely to be single. In such societies, people may experience fewer social penalties for remaining unmarried and have greater freedom to prioritize careers, hobbies, or friendships over romantic commitments.
Living in less flexible, more monumentalist countries was also associated with higher singlehood rates. The authors suggest that in these cultures, where people are encouraged to follow impulses and seek immediate enjoyment, short-term dating or non-committal relationships may be favored over long-term partnerships and marriage.
However, culture did not act in isolation. It changed how demographic factors were associated with singlehood. In highly individualistic countries, the link between single status and economic disadvantage was particularly strong. Adults with low incomes or unemployment in these societies were especially likely to remain single.
The researchers argue that this may reflect an expectation that individuals should first achieve financial independence before forming a family. Without stable resources, young adults in individualistic countries might delay or forgo long-term relationships, whereas in collectivistic settings, extended family support can sometimes offset personal financial shortfalls.
Gender, age, and cultural differences
The association between being male and being single also grew stronger as individualism increased. In individualistic cultures, independence and self-sufficiency are highly valued traits, and these qualities are often particularly emphasized for men. This may make remaining single a more socially acceptable, or even expected, path for some men.
In contrast, in collectivistic or more traditional contexts, family and community pressure can push men toward marriage as a sign of adulthood and responsibility. These norms may reduce gender gaps in relationship status, although they can also reinforce traditional gender roles.
The study found a different pattern for age in monumentalist countries. There, older age was more strongly associated with singlehood than in flexible societies. Monumentalist cultures encourage people to remain true to their inner selves and personal desires, which could support older adults who choose to live independently rather than conform to expectations surrounding marriage or cohabitation.
Over time, older people in these settings may become more willing to resist social pressure and prioritize autonomy. This could include choosing to remain single after previous relationships end or delaying partnership indefinitely in favor of personal goals or religious commitments.
Limitations and future directions
The authors highlight several important limitations. Because the study relies on observational survey data, it cannot demonstrate that cultural values or economic conditions directly cause singlehood. It is possible that being single affects financial outcomes, or that both are shaped by unmeasured variables such as health or personality traits.
Another constraint is the broad categorization of single adults. Grouping all never-married individuals into one category masks major differences between those who actively prefer single life and those who want a relationship but cannot find a suitable partner. Dating history and local marriage markets may also influence singlehood in ways that are not visible in the data.
Moreover, national averages for cultural values can obscure significant regional or class-based differences within countries. Urban elites, for example, may hold much more individualistic attitudes than rural communities within the same nation. Future research could examine subnational data to capture those nuances.
The authors recommend that longitudinal studies follow individuals over time to track how changes in income, employment, education, and attitudes affect relationship transitions. They also note that other cultural dimensions, such as tolerance for divorce or openness to new social groups, could further refine predictions about who partners up and who remains single.
Despite these limitations, the research adds important global evidence to debates about the rise in single adults worldwide. It shows that singlehood trends cannot be fully understood without considering how cultural values shape the meaning of independence, commitment, and personal success across different societies.
As demographic shifts continue, policymakers and social scientists will likely pay closer attention to how changing norms around work, gender, and identity influence the decision to partner or remain single.
