If married people are healthier, should single people be desperately looking for a partner?

Not necessarily.


A recent lab study measuring hormonal responses to stress found that "single and unpaired individuals are more responsive to psychological stress than married individuals, a finding consistent with a growing body of evidence showing that marriage and social support can buffer against stress"

Which is all well and good and aligns with a lot of research that shows that, on average, married people are healthier than single people.


The problem with this type of finding is that it can lead people who are currently single to feel helpless.  Getting married isn't really in our control, so being told that you would be happier, less stressed and healthier if you were married can feel a bit like being told that you would be happier if you were a best selling author - possibly true but not really helpful advice, especially if you don't like writing or going on speaking tours.


Another approach is to dig a little deeper. Another study quoted in New York Magazine found, 'married people were indeed healthier—if they weren’t lonely in their marriages. If they were, the health benefits were so negligible the researchers considered them statistically insignificant.' 

The New York Magazine  article goes on to quote Harvard epidemiologist, Lisa Berkman: “friends substitute perfectly well for family...Any one connection doesn’t really protect you. You need relationships that provide love and intimacy and you need relationships that help you feel like you’re participating in society in some way.”

Now this is more helpful - developing meaningful friendships, participating in your community - this is much more in our control.