An Exploratory Study on the Attitudes and the Perceptions Toward a Single Life

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes and the perceptions toward a single life and life satisfaction among male and female singles. In this study, a total of 160 singles aged 30 to 39 were interviewed using a questionnaire on socio-economic status, the attitudes and perceptions toward a single life, and life satisfaction. The data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and chi-square. The major findings of this study are as follows; 1) the socio-economic status of singles are higher than that of the married ones, showing a high level of income, education, and jobs. The 54.4% of the respondents showed that they remained as singles, because they have not met desirable partners yet, and the 20.9% answer that the main reasons for being a single are working and studying. The attitudes and the perceptions toward a single life were measured in six areas; freedom, self-achievement, self-development, institutional pressure. anxiety of support systems, and sex discrimination toward singles. The freedom of a single life was shown to have significant relationships with education and income. The self-achievement, self-development, and the level of anxiety about support systems were shown to be related to the sex of singles, indicating that single women got more benefits than single men. Single men experienced more institutional pressures such as marriage pressures and filial piety than single women. There was no difference in the level of acceptance to live as a single in terms of sex. Finally, life satisfaction with a single life turned to have significant relationships with sex, age, education, and income.

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