Vacancy

• MA/MSc degree in demography, sociology, social psychology, or epidemiology; interest in, and ideally some familiarity with philosophy 
• Interest in the topic of social cohesion and in collaborating in a broad research consortium with academic and non-academic stakeholders
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research, including analytical and theoretical dimensions
• Professional competence in English 
• Intellectual curiosity, engagement with social questions, creativity, and analytical rigor
• A background in quantitative data analyses and skills in advanced statistical methods and programming (e.g., Stata or R)
• Interest in doing mixed methods research/qualitative research
• We look for team players who want to play an active role in an inter- and transdisciplinary research community and training programme

The rise in singlehood is one of the major demographic trends of the last few decades. As the number of singles is increasing, the question is how to maintain social cohesion in this context of increasing individualization. This project examines whether and under which circumstances singlehood has an integrative or isolating function for singles aged 20 to 50. Specifically, the project aims to study 1) what it means to be single; 2) the social relations and solidary/caregiving behaviour of singles; and 3) the extent to which well-being of singles depends on individual and contextual characteristics. Throughout the project, the focus is on diversity within the single population to identify the conditions under which singlehood benefits individuals and their social relations and when it is a risk factor for social isolation. These insights can be used to build more targeted provisions or develop new institutional arrangements to meet the needs and support the social connections of the increasing numbers of singles in contemporary societies. Examples of questions that can be studied are: Are singles happier if they work or live in a context in which singlehood is common? And do singlehood norms especially impact the well-being of women?

Rationale

This project adds to the still scarce line of research on singlehood, which has paid little attention to social embeddedness. Instead, this literature has focused on descriptive differences in singlehood and on quite general comparisons in well-being between all single and all partnered people. The few studies on this topic are from the US or focus on loneliness among older adults. Moreover, this research adds to the literature on social cohesion by adding the perspective of singles. Specific contributions of this project are as follows: first, by using a philosophical-phenomenological research design in the first part of the project, this study will delve deeper in the different meanings and experiences of singles, gaining insights for theory development on the experiences of singles today, with a particular focus on substantiating an embodied philosophical-phenomenological understanding of the distinction between being lonely and being alone in the context of singlehood. Second, the project will develop theories about how the social relations, loneliness, well-being and solidary behaviour of singles can be context- and group-dependent, and what mechanisms explain this. The current literature describes singlehood as having both an isolating and an integrative function. By studying the mechanisms and the role of different individual and contextual factors, such as gender, sexuality and geographic location, this project adds to this debate. For example, it will examine whether the well-being of men or women is impacted by the presence of other singles in their network. Hereby, it gives insight into the care needs and caregiving potential of singles. Third, the project goes beyond a mere distinction between singles and different types of couples, shedding light on diversity within the single population.

Scope of the Project

The focus is on individuals between the ages of 20 and 50, because between these ages family formation and family rearing is at the centre of people’s lives, implying that singles within this age bracket break with normative expectations and traditions.

The project consists of three sub-projects. The first sub-project aims to examine what it means to be single from a phenomenological perspective. In the second sub-project, the focus is broadened from individual experience to how singlehood relates to social relations in different contexts/potential networks (neighbourhood, family, workplace) and solidary behaviour. In the third sub-project, the aim is to study to what extent the well-being of singles is lower, dependent on context characteristics (e.g., percentage of other singles in their environment).

Project Deliverables

The project will deliver new theories on what singlehood means today and on the key conditions needed to foster the social relations and well-being of singles – focusing on whether their well-being and social relations depend on network- and individual-level characteristics. Moreover, new data (a LISS-panel module among 1,600 singles) will be collected among a group that so far has often been overlooked in academic research. New items will be developed to capture topics especially salient to singles. These open-source data can be used by other researchers working on singlehood or social cohesion.

Relation to Social Cohesion

This project tackles different social cohesion challenges: individualization, inequality and the loneliness epidemic.

We shed some light on the tension between some social ties and other social ties by shedding more light on the role of ‘chosen family’ or friends for singles. Singles may in some cases have fewer close ties to their family and ‘miss’ having a tie to a partner, but these ties may be replaced by stronger ties to their friends. This could, for example, depend on the duration of someone’s singlehood and on whether someone has experienced the death of or separation from a partner or is a ‘lifelong’ single. This project gives insight into the extent to which a partner tie may be replaced by another role for friends among singles.

The project uses advanced quantitative and qualitative methods, with an emphasis on quantitative methods. New survey data (a LISS module) will be designed and collected to capture the lives of singles. Moreover, POPNET data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) will be used for .  information about the (potential) network an individual is part of, such as their neighbourhood. A third potential quantitative data source is repeated cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey  Survey, used to study change over time. The quantitative data will be studied with advanced quantitative methods, including a multilevel design.  The qualitative component consists of interviews with singles, using approaches from applied phenomenology to conduct conversations to deepen our understanding of key experiential categories related to singlehood.

The first sub-project will use a qualitative phenomenological research design. For this, a philosophical-phenomenologically informed structured interview will be designed among Dutch singles aged 20- to 50 to deepen our understanding of core concepts related to singlehood in the context of participants’ lived experience, with a key focus on loneliness. This approach captures the depth of and processes behind the lived experiences not captured in quantitative research. Building on this qualitative analysis, the rest of the project will use quantitative research to enhance and develop these findings. In sub-project 2, the new survey data will be used to study social relations and solidary behaviour.  Singlehood status is based on a detailed partner variable , relationship history and whether singlehood is voluntary. This will be interacted with other characteristics, such as gender and education. In sub-project 3, the POPNET data will be matched with the LISS-panel data on singlehood norms and life satisfaction.A multilevel design will be used, with individuals clustered in neighbourhoods or regions, workplaces or families, which differ in norms and in the number of singles in the network.

Sarkisian, N., & Gerstel, N. (2016). Does singlehood isolate or integrate? Examining the link between marital status and ties to kin, friends, and neighbors. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 33(3), 361–384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407515597564

van den Berg, L., & Verbakel, E. (2022). Trends in singlehood in young adulthood in Europe. Advances in Life Course Research, 51, Article 100449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2021.100449