From "mount marriage" to "mount cohabitation" to "mount single"

In most modern societies, research on relationship formation has noted a markable evolution over the past decades: from a rigid dominance of marriage, to an acceptance of unmarried cohabitation, and most recently towards an increase in being unpartnered - i.e. singlehood. This project delves into singlehood among young adults, for whom the combination of increased financial independence and normative frameworks supporting individualism, self-determination, and discovery have made being single when leaving the parental home an important part of the transition to adulthood. Moreover, when they do find a partner, young adults' relationship trajectories no longer necessary mimic linear pathways towards a stable partnership, cohabitation or marriage. Rather, sequential relationships and dissolutions give way to a variety in life course trajectories which can, but do not necessarily, result in a long-term partnership - and when they do, are not necessarily "for life".

Simultaneously, the project argues that there is a fundamental hidden relationship trajectory in young adulthood where individuals may experience difficulties in finding the right partner, maintaining a relationship or where they make a conscious choice to remain single for longer periods. This so-called “singleton trajectory” is characterized by a succession of relatively short-lived committed relationships that do not easily manifest themselves in a long-term partnership. Given that relationship trajectories in young adults form the basis for the future demographic course of society, the Singleton Project aims to identify and explain relationship formation, maintenance and dissolution in this cohort, with specific attention for the singlehood trajectory.

The project has four interrelated main objectives: 

• To empirically describe singleness and singleton trajectories in three birth cohorts: 1986-1990, 1991-1995 and 1996-2000
• To investigate the internal dynamics of relationship formation, maintenance and dissolution from a multi-actor perspective: both young adult individuals and their romantic partner or best friend
• To investigate how social networks, educational paths, and career prospects influence the development of relationship trajectories in young adulthood using a two-wave, mixed-methods study design
• To consider the emergence of a "single culture" as part of a new explanatory framework for understanding the Singleton trajectory through large-scale and in-depth machine learning