Gender Differences in Lifestyle and Attitudes among Middle-Aged Singles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the lifestyles, attitudes, and behaviors of middle-aged singles from a gender perspective. An exploratory statistical analysis of large-scale survey datasets found that, first, it was not necessarily the case with middle-aged singles that living in a single household generally led to dating and marriage; second, a significantly large number of middle-aged single women indicated that they had chosen not to marry because they did not want to lose their freedom; third, the distribution of basic variables for lifestyle and attitudes was similar between middle-aged single men and women; and fourth, while there was a systematic gender difference in terms of consultation networks and learning behavior among middle-aged singles, the degree of this difference was smaller than that among senior singles. Through a comprehensive examination, no significant gender differences were observed among middle-aged singles in terms of lifestyle, attitudes, and behaviors. Rather, it can be said that such a small gender difference is a characteristic of middle-aged singles.