“The start of a partnership is the turning point for life satisfaction, and for the better – above all, it is the step of moving in together that brings stability. This is clearly evident from the data,” explains the study's lead author, Dr. Usama EL-Awad from the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University.
Relationships make you happy
People experience the greatest increase in life satisfaction when they move in with their partner. If the relationship started a year before moving in together, this only further stabilises the level of satisfaction. The positive effect lasts for at least two years.
The importance of marriage, on the other hand, has declined. According to the study, marriage had a positive effect on life satisfaction more in the 1980s and 1990s than it does today. “Marriage is less important today than it used to be, at least in the early years of a relationship, which is probably due to changes in society and growing acceptance of non-marital civil partnerships,” says EL-Awad.
Correlation regardless of age and gender
Overall, the study shows a clear positive correlation between living together with a partner and well-being. “It is revealing that life satisfaction improves uniformly across all groups examined in the study with the start of a relationship and moving in together,” explains psychologist Dr. Theresa Entringer from the University of Greifswald and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). She is co-author of the study. “The increase in satisfaction is independent of age, gender, income or education.”
Professor Dr. Anu Realo from the University of Warwick, also a co-author, explains: “The transition from single life to a committed relationship leads to a lasting change in well-being – at least in the early years, and not just a short-lived “honeymoon effect”. This contradicts the previously widespread view that in the aftermath of positive or negative events, people quickly return to a genetically determined initial state of well-being.”
“Even in the age of digital media, partnerships remain central to well-being,” adds the study's senior author, Professor Dr. Sakari Lemola from the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University. “The need for a stable relationship is deeply rooted. It is evident across cultures and is also observed in monogamous species such as swans, albatrosses and gentoo penguins.”
The underlying data
The researchers based their findings on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the British longitudinal study ‘Understanding Society’ (UKHLS). In both studies, several thousand people are repeatedly surveyed about their living conditions, life satisfaction and other topics: in the SOEP since 1984 (approx. 20,000 households annually) and in the UKHLS since 2009 (approx. 40,000 households annually).
In these two large studies, the German-British research team identified a total of 1,103 individuals who had been living alone as singles in at least one of the annual interviews and had then started a relationship and moved in with their partner within the subsequent two years. If the individuals remained with their partners – which was the case for the majority – their life satisfaction was monitored for a further two years. Some of the individuals also married during this period. The annual surveys made it possible to track changes in life satisfaction before and after these transitions in the subjects’ relationships.
Published in a scientific journal for personality psychology
The study was published in the Journal of Personality (impact factor 2.7 according to Journal Citation Reports). The research is linked to Bielefeld University's InChangE focus area, which deals with individualisation in changing environments.
Further information
Original publication: Usama EL-Awad, Robert Eves, Justin Hachenberger, Theresa M. Entringer, Robin Goodwin, Anu Realo, Sakari Lemola: Mapping Life Satisfaction Over the First Years of Cohabitation Among Former Singles Living Alone in UK and Germany. Journal of Personality, https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.70013, published on 18 August 2025.
Contact address
Dr. Usama EL-Awad
Bielefeld University
Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science
Tel.: +49 521 106 86560
usama.el-awaduni-bielefeldde
Dr. Theresa Entringer
University of Greifswald
Institute of Psychology
Tel: +49 3834 420 3772
theresa.entringeruni-greifswaldde