Matrimania

Reports of Singles' Early Demise are Greatly Exaggerated (or Just Plain Wrong)

Bella DePaulo | Posted 10.19.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Marriage, Singled Out, Myths About Singles, Singlism, Longevity, Relationships, Matrimania, Mortality, Flawed Research, Emotional Intelligence, Healthy Living News

A just-published article claims that people who stay single are headed straight to the grave -- and fast. Faster than people who are currently married.

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Taking on Singlism: 28 Writers Help Me Display and Slay the Beast

Bella DePaulo | Posted 07.19.2011 | Books

"DePaulo says that 'singlism' -- a term she coined and for which we are prepared to forgive her -- is not just aimed at unmarried women." -Gail Collin...

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Latest Survey of Singles: This Is How Stereotypes Are Perpetuated

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Divorce

Have you heard about the latest survey of single people? It is based on a nationally-representative sample of more than 5,000 Americans, ages 21 to 65...

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Does Piers Morgan Ask Why Condi Rice Is Single? Let Me Count the Ways

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media

Now Piers Morgan has taken over in the King slot at CNN. With Professor Condoleezza Rice as one of his first guests, would he, too, turn out to be a matrimaniac?

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Is Marriage that Luxury Cruise Ship Stranded in the Ocean?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Singled Out, Friends, Economics, Marriage, Matrimania, Kids of Single Parents, Scholars of Single Life, Single Life, Marriage Education, Singles, Media, Time Magazine, Single at Heart, Pew Report, Marriage Obsolete, Marketplace, Meaningful Lives, Singlism, Cohabitation, Fragile Spouse, Laws, Resilient Single Person, Discrimination, Intensive Coupling, Couples, Family, Healthy Living News

Time magazine calls marriage a 'luxury yacht.' Remember what happened on the last cruise ship? The cover of Time magazine asks, in big bold letters,...

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Facebook Movie: The Arrogance of Achievement vs. the Arrogance of Inheritance

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Technology

Read More: Arrogance, Reputation, Personality, Money, Likable, Matrimania, Inheritance, Achievement, The Social Connection, Dr. House, Passion, Media, Movies, Happiness, Joy, Success, Philanthropy, Intelligence, Singlism, Exploitation, Sexism, Single, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Skills, Intensity, Coupled, Technology News

The word on the street is that the Facebook movie, The Social Network, ruins Mark Zuckerberg's reputation. I'm not so sure.

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Challenges to the Privileging of Married People, from Across the Ideological Spectrum

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics

Read More: Glbt, Liberals, Matrimania, Government Role in Marriage, Marriage Penalty, Singles, Family and Medical Leave Act, Special Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Friendship, National Unmarried and Single Americans Week, Marital Privilege, Marriage, Singles Week, Singlism, Human Rights, Conservatives, Get Government Out of Marriage, Second-Class Citizens, Basic Rights, Separation of Church and State, Libertarians, Advocacy, Family, Politics News

[This post is co-authored by Bella DePaulo and Rachel Buddeberg.] Today marks the beginning of Singles Week (or, more formally, National Unmarried an...

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Know Your 1,138 Marital Privileges, Courtesy of the Feds

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics

Read More: Minor Spouse, Glbt, Social Security, Work-Related Injuries, Bloggers, Matrimania, Estate Taxes, Widowers, Marital Status, Old Age, Defense of Marriage Act, Veterans, Same-Sex Marriage, Most Important Person in Your Life, Tax Exemptions, Singlism, Legal Code, Community Supported Agriculture, Federal Civilian Employees, Disability, Benefits for Married People, Secondary Education, Family, Spouse, Friend, Federal Military Employees, 1138 Federal Laws, Military Personnel, Marital Privileges, Intimate Partner, Tax Breaks, Definition of Marriage, Family Farms, Stalking, Presidential Powers, Agricultural Loans, Taxation of Gifts, Unmarried Partners, Farmers, Residential Land Use, Singles Penalty, Gifts, Widows, National Parks, Locavores, Hardship, Onely, Politics News

The report also makes it clear that some of the 1,000+ laws identified "may not directly create benefits, rights, or privileges" for married people.

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Is Marriage a Barbarian-Adoption Program?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Married men are less generous with their friends after marrying. How, does this qualify as acting "more civilized," as the Marriage Mafia claim?

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Sandra Bullock, David Brooks, and Misleading Claims About Marrying

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

In his column today, David Brooks writes that, "According to [one study], being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year." What exactly does this mean?

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Are You Single at Heart?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

To be single at heart, I think, means that you see yourself as single. Your life may or may not include the occasional romantic relationship, but you don't aspire to live as part of a couple for the long term.

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'Relationship' Is a Very Big Word

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Progressives, Matrimania, Scholarship, Meanings, Mentors, Friendships, Singlism, Children's Friendships, Sexual Relationships, Neighbors, Conducive Chronicle, Love, Blogging, Conferences, Family, Couples, Spouse, Romantic Relationships, Coworkers, Research, Solutions-Oriented, Best Friends, Compassionate, Journals, Myths, Asian Culture, Parent-Child Relationships, Education Level, Sex, Party, Siblings, Living Single, Relationships, Healthy Living News

There's something troubling about the use of the word "relationship" that excludes all relationships but romantic ones. All other adult relationships aren't just excluded in the wording; they're absent from the studies.

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Should You Marry that Rude, Stinky, Creepy Person Since You're Not Perfect Either?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Singled Out, Psychology Today, Backlash, Matrimania, Single Life, Media, Atlantic Magazine, Friendship, Marriage, Therapist, Caricatures, Singlism, Single Women, Couples, Marry Him, Issues, Condescension, Prejudices, Relationships, Books, Lonely, Singles, Myths, Feminism, Settling, Cnn, Clients in Therapy, Stereotypes, Jon Stewart, Living Single, Alone, Lori Gottlieb, Healthy Living News

Once upon a time, a reporter for a major magazine declared, in all seriousness, that women should just get married already - even if it means settling...

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"Our Bodies, Ourselves": 40 Years on, Still Circling the Globe

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Impact

Read More: Health Policy, Sexual Orientations, Matrimania, Women?S Studies, Boston Women?S Health Book Collective, Media, Movies, Birthing, Consciousness-Raising, History, Singlism, Activism, Health Consumers, Disability, Translations, Health Care, Spirituality, Revisions, Medical Procedures, Aging, Social Change, Relationships, Menopause, Social Movement, Singles, Our Bodies Ourselves, Sexuality, Children?S Books, Childbearing, Going Viral, Health, Teens, Books, Diversity, Adults Without Children, Impact News

There are some truths about women's health that may now seem self-evident, but perhaps would not be so obvious if it were not for the ideas espoused, starting so long ago, by "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

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Shriver Report: Get Married, Have Kids, Then We'll Speak to Your Issues

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Workforce, Social Security, Singled Out, Pay, Divorce, Children, Matrimania, A Woman?S Nation, Gloria Steinem, Nonfamily Households, Media, Childless Women, Business, Ideology, Consciousness-Raising, Friendship, Compulsory Heterosexuality, Politics, Compulsory Mothering, Singlism, Discrimination, Breadwinners, Health Care, Couples, Family, Women?S Media Center, Taxes, Connection, Single-Person Households, Wives, Compulsory Marriage, Money, Women?S Movement, Suze Orman, Shriver Report, Singles, Maria Shriver, Time Magazine, Mothers, Gender, Education, Oprah Winfrey, Career, Workplace, Unmarried America, John Podesta, Adrienne Rich, Healthy Living News

I'll highlight some remarkable and conventional-wisdom-defying findings from the report that were published but never headlined.

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Two Scholars Ask: What if Marriage Is Bad for Us?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Social Security, Singled Out, Divorce, Civil Rights, Sociology, Middle Class, Matrimania, Pop Culture, Race, Cultures, Laura Kipnis, Happiness, Friendship, Isolation, Institutions, Politics, Mate Choice, Singlism, Wealth, Retirement Benefits, Love, Health Care, Status Quo, Family, Advocacy, Benefits, Marriage, Lifelong Singles, Domestic Gulag, Myths, Hollywood, Loneliness, Work, Health, Single, Health Insurance, Blaming the Victim, Single With Attitude, Healthy Living News

Marriage is not for everyone, and people who want to stay single should not be targeted with singlism because of it.

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Marriage and Health: Et Tu, New York Times?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Depression, Singled Out, Divorce, Matrimania, Marriage Movement, Media, Obesity, Policy, Myths, Marriage, Singlism, Methodological Problems, Health, Single, Health Insurance, New York Times, Discrimination, Finances, Healthy Living News

I am disappointed with the recent Times article that claims that married people tend to be healthier than single people. Here's why the piece is misleading.

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Marital Mentalities: The Changes are Historic, and We're Living Them

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: The Week, Scientific Claims, Depression, Singled Out, Worldviews, Divorce, Children, Atlantic, Single Parenting, Marriage, Matrimania, Media, Time, Singlism, No Children, Historic Change, Mythology, Single, Demographics, Healthy Living News

There's a lot of matrimania going on but I suspect that's not a sign of how secure we are about the place of marriage in our lives, but how insecure.

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"Avoid Marriage," Advises Atlantic Writer

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Singled Out, Nation Magazine, Friends, Longevity, Children, Single Mothers, Matrimania, Divorce, Singles, Media, Myths, Atlantic Magazine, Barack Obama, Rachel Maddow Show, Happiness, Marriage, Singlism, Health, Families, Love, Fathers, Healthy Living News

Who is happier and psychologically stronger - people who got married and then got unmarried, or people who stayed single? The answer, in just about every study I've ever reviewed, is people who have stayed single.

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For the Love of Blogging

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media

When I first started blogging, I never imagined it would become one of my favorite things to do.

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USA Today Reporter Responds to Blog Post

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media

Read More: Marriage-Promotion, Singled Out, Divorce, Children, Matrimania, Singles, Media, Government Programs, Myths, Happiness, Blogs, Marriage, USA Today, Singlism, Wealth, Advertising, Single Parents, Health, Discrimination, Methodology, Media News

...

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Promoting Marriage-Promotion with Dubious Scientific Claims: USA Today's Feature Story

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media

Read More: Law, Singled Out, Longevity, Children, George W. Bush, Matrimania, Media, Policy, Myths, Barack Obama, Happiness, Marriage, USA Today, Emerging Adulthood, Singlism, Marriage Promotion, Wealth, Advertising, Single Parents, Health, Discrimination, AtMP, Finances, Media News

USA Today is very excited about marriage. Splashed across the front page of the Health and Behavior section, set off by a colorful illustration, was t...

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True or False: Married People Healthiest, but Singles Catching Up

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living

Even allowing for the approach that makes marriage look better than it really is, the differences in health between the currently-married and the always-single are tiny.

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BBC Claims Singles Are at Risk for Alzheimer's; I Think the BBC is Losing Its Mind

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media

Read More: Elderly, Marriage, Dementia, Singled Out, Friends, Singlism, Divorce, Bbc, Health, Matrimania, Alzheimer's, Intellectual Stimulation, Singles, Media, Widows, Social Contact, Media News

With no reliable differences in the rate of Alzheimer's between the married and the single people, the BBC should not have heralded the "findings" in a headline.

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