ABSTRACT Single individuals—defined as someone who is not involved in a romantic relationship—have been an understudied population in psychology. Historically, when research did focus on single people, scholars often took a between‐groups approach, comparing single people's outcomes to those of coupled people. Although this approach has utility, it also led to assumptions that single people are a homogenous group with their members having similar motives and outcomes. The goal of this special issue was twofold: (1) showcase research that addresses the complex and diverse aspects of singlehood experiences, and (2) shed light on how singlehood experiences may have implications for advancing understanding of close relationships broadly. This editorial synthesis provides a summary of important themes that arose from 12 articles that are included in this special issue and provides key takeaways for the burgeoning field of singlehood studies and close relationships science.
Adamczyk et al. (Sun,) studied this question.