Love as a Low Priority: Gender and Relationship History Differences in Singles’ Value of Romantic Partnership

This study uses original data from the Dynamics of Social Life During COVID-19 Survey (DSL-COVID) to examine the importance of romantic partnership among heterosexual single adults in the United States. We find that almost 40 percent of single adults report that having a long-term committed romantic relationship is “not at all important” to their lives. However, the importance of finding a romantic partner varies by gender and prior relationship experience. Compared to women with no prior romantic relationships, women who have been in a committed romantic relationship or have been married before are more likely to report having a romantic partner is not at all important. In contrast, men who have been in a committed romantic relationship are more likely to report that having a romantic partner is at least somewhat important compared to men with no relationship experience. Prior experience with romantic relationships is associated with lower value of romantic partnership for women, but a higher value of romantic partnership for men. These results have implications for union formation, as singles exhibit heterogeneous romantic relationship preferences. Future research on union formation should consider how singles value traditional romantic partnership and further explore how gender relates to dating and relationship decisions.