In the United States, 51 percent of adults are single. That number will likely only grow with marriage on the decline and divorce rates at historic highs, although not rising as quickly as past years.

美国有51%的成年人单身，尽管单身率增长没有过去几年快，可鉴于结婚率在下降，离婚率创历史新高，这数值怕是只会增长。

Single people outnumbering married couples represents a historic moment in the United States, but the culture still stigmatizes¹ staying solo. Out of those 128 million Americans who aren’t married, surely some number of them prefer to avoid long-term relationships.

单身人士数量超过已婚人士代表了美国历史性一刻，但文化上依旧以孑然一身为耻。1.28亿美国未婚人士中，显然有些人更倾向于避免长时期的恋爱关系。

Despite the fact that we live in a society where technology is increasingly connecting more people, plenty of folks really do just want to be left alone. In fact, despite social norms and cultural expectations, some singles are perfectly² happy spending their lives in solitude³.

尽管如今我们所在的社会里，科技使得人们的联系日益紧密，还是有很多人确是想要孤身一人。事实上，尽管有社会准则和文化预期在，一些单身人士非常乐意平静愉快地安然度过一生。

People who harbor a strong fear of being single often end up in relationships that leave them unhappy. During relationship initiation⁴ and maintenance, those who fear being single may prioritize relationship status above relationship quality.

害怕单身的人也往往最终恋爱并不快乐。恋爱初始阶段和维持恋情的过程中，害怕单身的人更重视感情的状态而非恋爱的质量。

Taken together, these studies suggest that not everyone is cut out for relationships. The single life isn’t so bad after all.

总体而言，这些研究表明，也不是每个人都适合恋爱的，单身生活其实也没那么糟糕。