Summary: A recent study of one Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 demonstrates how crucial satisfying friendships are to overall happiness. Researchers divided individuals into five groups based on levels of happiness and five variables: happiness with family, happiness with friends, self-esteem, psychopathy, and assertiveness.
The people who were most happy with their friends were the happiest, whereas the least happy people were less happy. In fresh, single parents, connection pleasure emerged as a particularly important indicator of well-being.
Important Information:
- In younger, single parents, friendship is highly related to joy.
- According to their enjoyment variables, the study divided people into five groups.
- The happiest were those who had reduced resentment and great friendship satisfaction.
Origin: PLOS
A new study examines the diversity of factors associated with pleasure among single Americans who are just beginning to age, highlighting a particularly strong correlation between pleasure and pleasant friendships.
Lisa Walsh of the University of California, Los Angeles, U. S., and associates present these findings in the open-access journal , PLOS ONE , on October 2, 2024.
Earlier research suggests that American in their early 20s may experience lower happiness than they would at various points in their lives. However, a growing percentage of young adults are not in long-term loving relationships, and researchers are extremely studying single people as a specific group, without regular comparisons to coupled people.
However, few studies have focused on distinct categories of single people, such as younger adults. Walsh and colleagues analyzed online survey data from 1, 073 single American adults between the ages of 18 and 24 to better understand these individuals ‘ experiences.
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.
Instead of assuming a more homogeneous population, as conventional approaches frequently do, the researchers used latent profile analysis, a research methodology that assumes individuals fall into various subgroups within a population.
The research team divided the young, single adults into five subgroups, or profiles, each with distinct combinations of the five measured predictors and each corresponding to a different level of happiness, to best represent the heterogeneity in their dataset.
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 be in opposition to lower scores on others, with friendship satisfaction being especially 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. They point out, however, that further investigation is required to establish any causal link between happiness and any of the five predictors they studied.
The authors add that “one of the standout findings from our study is how deeply friendships influence happiness for single, emerging adults. We discovered that singles who were content with their relationships were more content with their lives, whereas those who were content with their relationships were less content. In short, the quality of your friendships is a key factor for your well-being, especially if you’re single”.
About this report on research in social psychology and neuroscience
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, which were arranged from favorable to unfavorable indicator patterns, displayed a variety of shape and level variations 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 demonstrate how crucial it is to maintain healthy friendships in the development of single, emerging adults.
