Flying Solo at Midlife: Gender, Marital Status, and Psychological Well-Being

This study examines gender and marital status differences in psychological well-being across an extensive array of measures using data from a sample of non-Hispanic, White, midlife adult participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, 1992-1993 (N = 6,876). Evidence for how selection and social causation might account for differences also is evaluated. Multivariate analyses reveal several gender interactions, usually indicating a greater disadvantage for unmarried men than for unmarried women. Separate analyses by gender show a complex picture of both positive and negative effects of being single. Contrary to what the selection argument hypothesizes, single women have higher scores on relatively enduring personality characteristics associated with better psychological well-being than married women. Single men do not compare so favorably with married men. Overall, selection does not account for marital status differences in well-being. Household income and having a kin confidant mediate some of the remaining effects. Key Words: gender, marital status, midlife, personality, psychological well-being. Historically, researchers have found that married men and women report better psychological wellbeing than their unmarried peers (e.g., Gove, Hughes, & Style, 1983; Gove & Shin, 1989; Gove, Style, & Hughes, 1990; Lee, Seccombe, & Shehan, 1991). Yet despite a significant lengthening of life expectancy during this century for both men and women, younger birth cohorts of American adults are spending proportionately less of their adult lives married. This is due to historical trends toward a later age at marriage, a higher rate of nonmarriage, a higher rate of divorce, and a lower rate of remarriage (Schoen, Urton, Woodrow, & Baj, 1985). Larger proportions of younger birth cohorts are now more likely to be single (never married, divorced, or widowed) during their midlife and older years. Uhlenberg, Cooney, and Boyd (1990) project that almost one third of White women in the 1955-1959 birth cohort will be unmarried at midlife between the ages of 50 and 54, and one half will be unmarried when they enter young old age between 65 and 69. If marriage is associated with better mental health, do these demographic trends portend a proliferation of mental health problems in our future aging society? Or is there any additional evidence that might indicate that as adult single life becomes more common, it is also becoming less disadvantaged or at least not unequivocally problematic? Glenn and Weaver (1988), using data from separate national surveys conducted from 1977 through 1986, reported that the relation between being married and self-reported happiness declined during this time. Most of the decline appeared to be related to an increase in the happiness of never-married males and a decrease in the reported happiness of married females. The decline in differences in happiness between the married and the nonmarried was most obvious for younger adults (ages 19-24). Recent qualitative studies of single (both never-married and formerly married) midlife women (Anderson & Stewart, 1994; Gordon, 1994) also have suggested that mature single women are beginning to report advantages to single status, advantages such as personal autonomy and growth that have made "flying solo" a psychologically rewarding experience. Previous work evaluating gender, marital status, and psychological well-being has been limited by a narrow set of outcome measures. Measures of depression most commonly are employed, followed by one-item measures of life satisfaction or overall "happiness. " However, it has become increasingly clear that psychological well-being is multidimensional and that scoring high on both positive and negative outcome measures might be expected to occur because positive and negative psychological states are negatively correlated but are not a bipolar continuum (Bradburn, 1969; Bryant & Veroff, 1982; Ryff, 1989, 1995; Ryff & Essex, 1991; Ryff & Keyes,1995). …