Living alone and living together: their significance for well-being
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chapter
posted on 2024-06-06, 11:51authored byEJ Eckermann
Differential rates of demographic change between the developed and developing nations contribute to disparate living arrangements and contrasting cultural understandings of living together and alone. Among some cohorts in the developed world, who can afford it, living alone is seen as a lifestyle choice and representative of independence, thus not compromising of wellbeing. In some contexts living arrangements have minimal impact on wellbeing. However, in parts of the developing world, and among other cohorts in developed countries, living alone represents despair, abandonment and loneliness leading to diminished wellbeing. Overriding this cultural difference is the unambiguous population level data from across the world showing that intimate partnerships, particularly marriage, provide a protective shield against low personal wellbeing scores. The jury is still out on whether this protective effect necessarily involves cohabitation. The current rise in living- apart-together relationships and the possible future trend of living together virtually, through second life and other digital media, raises further questions about the nexus between living arrangements and wellbeing.
History
Chapter number
18
Pagination
435-444
ISBN-13
9789401791786
Language
eng
Publication classification
B1 Book chapter, B Book chapter
Copyright notice
2015, Springer
Extent
41
Editor/Contributor(s)
Glatzer W, Camfield L, Møller V, Rojas M
Publisher
Springer
Place of publication
Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Title of book
Global handbook of quality of life : exploration of well-being of nations and continents