ABSTRACT

Very little attention has been paid in the literature to singlehood as an identity. Existing research can be divided into the reasons for singlehood on one side and the implications of being single on the other side, while mostly leaving singlehood itself a “black box.” Therefore, this article first surveys the two existing scholastic streams. Second, it lays out a growing stream of research where singlehood is found to be a social category and identity in itself. Third, through using social identity theories, this article offers a model of three main categories of singlehood identity: counter-normative, peripheral, and core identity. Fourth, the article demonstrates the far-reaching implications of this identity categorisation for empirical research and topics such as social discrimination, civil rights, and social movements. Thus, the meaning of singlehood is now going through a shift resembling past conceptual revolutions regarding race, gender, and sexual orientation.

摘要

文献中很少关注单身作为一种身份。现有的研究可以分为一方面是单身的原因，另一方面是单身的影响，而大多将单身本身视为一个“黑匣子”。因此，本文首先考察现有的两个学术流派。其次，它提出了越来越多的研究，发现单身本身就是一种社会类别和身份。第三，通过运用社会身份理论，本文提出了单身身份三个主要类别的模型：反规范身份、外围身份和核心身份。第四，文章论证了这种身份分类对实证研究和社会歧视、公民权利和社会运动等主题的深远影响。因此，