Singles: An Examination of Two Stereotypes

A prior lack of comparative study has led to stereotypes as a major means for describing the behavior of a rapidly growing population segment known as singles. Two of these stereotypes indicate that singles must be lonelier than marrieds since they lack a steady companion and this also results in a sexual behavior known as swinging-having numerous sexual partners. As a means of dealing with this lack of knowledge, a probability proportionate to size sample of 400 was interviewed in the Dayton metropolitan area. On the various questions dealing with feelings of being lonely, more of the singles implied such feelings but the largest differences were noted by the divorced (more lonely) versus the other categories of never married, currently in first marriage and the remarried. Similar is the situation when dealing with the stereotypes of swinging since it was a small category of the divorced which was most likely to display this behavior. The study indicates that the behaviors being described are more complex than that indicated by the stereotypes and that the difference may not be one indicative of marital status.