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 as 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.