The good, the bad, and the complex: Qualitative accounts of how people navigate singlehood benefits and challenges

Singlehood is often described as a binary: some single people struggle, while other singles thrive. Yet, single people likely experience challenging and beneficial aspects of singlehood simultaneously. We used qualitative approaches to provide insight about how single people navigate aspects of singlehood that are challenging and aspects that offer opportunities to thrive. Eleven single adults took part in 30–45-minute semi-structured interviews. Single participants were of diverse ages and ethnic backgrounds, represented a gender balanced sample, and reported diverse relationship histories ranging from never coupled to divorced. Using reflexive thematic analyses, we identified three themes that reflected broader complexities about navigating singlehood challenges and benefits: (I) whether and when should single people invest in singlehood, (II) balancing the tension between singlehood facilitating autonomy versus romantic relationships facilitating deep emotional connection, and (III) how to respond to feelings or experiences of societal pressure to partner that encourages romantic coupling. These findings shed light on how single people manage mixed feelings about singlehood and romantic coupling.