A Historical-developmental Model of Transitions in Singlehood

ABSTRACT

Transitions into singlehood are becoming more common with diverse meanings across the lifecourse, yet many theories maintain a static, stigmatizing view of singlehood. Drawing on existing social-role-instability theories, we therefore build a model that recognizes singlehood as a dynamic process sensitive to developmental and historical time, rendering static comparisons of its effects inconclusive at best, inaccurate and misleading at worst. The premise of our historical-developmental model of social-role instability is that the benefits or costs of any relationship status depend on individual and sociocultural characteristics as well as its timing, duration, and sequencing across the lifecourse and over historical time.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).