Romantic Relationships May Not Reduce Loneliness Among Asexual Adults, Study Finds

New research suggests that romantic relationships do not reduce loneliness for asexual adults in the same way they do for heterosexual and other sexual minority individuals. The findings challenge long-standing assumptions in relationship science about the universal benefits of coupledom.

The study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, was led by social psychologist Giulia Zoppolat of Amsterdam University Medical Centers. Her team examined whether being in a romantic relationship is consistently linked to better well-being across sexual orientations.

The researchers focused on two pervasive cultural norms: amatonormativity and allonormativity. Amatonormativity is the belief that having a central romantic relationship is essential for a good life, while allonormativity assumes that everyone naturally experiences sexual attraction.

These norms leave little room for asexual people, who generally experience little or no sexual attraction. Asexual individuals often face invalidation, invisibility, and pressure to conform to sexual and romantic expectations, which can affect their mental health and social connections.

Large-Scale Loneliness Survey Data

To explore these issues, the team used data from the BBC Loneliness Experiment, a large international online survey on social life and well-being. They analyzed responses from more than 41,000 adults who reported their sexual orientation, relationship status, and levels of loneliness.

About 70 percent of participants lived in the United Kingdom, and ages ranged from 16 to 99. The sample was divided into three groups: more than 36,000 heterosexual participants, around 3,600 other sexual minority participants, and just over 1,400 asexual participants.

Loneliness was defined as a gap between the social connections people want and those they actually have. Asexual and other sexual minority participants reported higher current loneliness on average than heterosexual participants, and they also anticipated more loneliness in old age.

Patterns of romantic involvement also differed sharply between groups. Nearly half of heterosexual participants were in a romantic relationship, compared with about one-third of other sexual minority participants and only 15 percent of asexual individuals.

Relationship Quality And Loneliness

The researchers then examined how satisfying these relationships felt. When asexual individuals were in romantic partnerships, they reported lower average relationship satisfaction than heterosexual and other sexual minority participants.

Within the asexual group, more people described their relationships as unsatisfying than satisfying. This contrasts with common findings in relationship science, where most partnered people tend to report reasonably positive relationship quality.

For heterosexual and other sexual minority adults, being in a romantic relationship was strongly linked to lower loneliness compared with being single. This result aligns with decades of evidence showing that high-quality romantic bonds help buffer against isolation and support mental health.

However, this pattern did not appear among asexual participants. Their current levels of loneliness were similar whether they were single, in an unsatisfying relationship, or in a highly satisfying one, suggesting that romantic status alone does not shape their day-to-day feelings of isolation.

Future Expectations Versus Present Feelings

The researchers also examined expectations about loneliness in old age. Anticipating isolation later in life is itself a risk factor for poorer mental health and can influence decisions about relationships and social networks.

In this domain, satisfying romantic relationships showed benefits for all groups, including asexual adults. Asexual participants in satisfying relationships were less concerned about being lonely in later life than their single or dissatisfied peers.

This contrast suggests that romantic partnerships may provide asexual people with a sense of long-term security or practical support, even if they do not significantly change how lonely they feel in the present. Long-term expectations and everyday social experiences may be shaped by different processes.

The authors argue that, for asexual adults, current loneliness may be influenced more by social stigma, misunderstanding, and marginalization than by relationship status. A single partner may not be enough to offset ongoing pressures from an allonormative and highly sexualized culture.

Broader Networks Of Intimacy

The findings point to the importance of non-romantic forms of connection for asexual people. Friendships, family relationships, community ties, and queer-platonic partnerships may play a central role in providing emotional support and a sense of belonging.

If someone does not view romantic love as the primary form of intimacy, the presence or absence of a partner will be less predictive of loneliness. Relationship science that focuses mainly on couples may therefore overlook important sources of resilience and connection for asexual individuals.

The study also highlights potential strain when asexual people feel pressured into romantic relationships to meet social expectations. For some, especially aromantic individuals who do not experience romantic attraction, dating can become a source of stress rather than fulfillment.

These pressures may help explain why asexual participants reported lower relationship satisfaction overall. Trying to navigate a relationship model built around sexual and romantic norms may intensify, rather than relieve, feelings of disconnection.

Limitations And Future Research

The authors caution that the study treats asexuality as a single category, even though it encompasses a broad spectrum of identities and experiences. It does not distinguish, for example, between aromantic asexual people and those who desire romance but not sex.

The research is also cross-sectional, capturing only one moment in time. It cannot show how relationship experiences and loneliness change as people move through different life stages or as their identities evolve.

Future work, the team argues, should examine specific asexual subgroups more closely and explore diverse forms of intimacy beyond conventional romantic relationships. Longitudinal studies could clarify how different support networks, from chosen families to community spaces, shape well-being over time.

Despite its limitations, the study provides rare large-scale data on asexual adults and calls for relationship science to become more inclusive. It suggests that policies and mental health support services should recognize that romantic partnership is not a universal pathway to reduced loneliness.