Table 1.

Summary of Between-group Versus Within-group Perspectives Toward Singlehood

Approach	Between-group perspective toward singlehood	Within-group perspective toward singlehood
Aim	Compares outcomes between single versus coupled people	Focuses on variation in experiences and outcomes among single people
Advantages	Reveal “on average” differences between single versus coupled people	Explores diverse and heterogeneous experiences among singles
Limitations	Can incorrectly lead to causal explanations attributed to relationship status and lead to deficit-based narratives and assumptions about singlehood	Can lead to assumptions that phenomena are unique to singlehood rather than more widely shared