Does Romantic Involvement Benefit Everyone? Testing a Foundational Tenet in Relationship Science Through the Case of Asexuality

It is established that romantic relationships can benefit well-being and buffer against loneliness. But is that true for everyone? We put this foundational tenet of relationship science to the test by examining whether asexual people (i.e., people who generally do not experience sexual attraction and desire) benefit from romantic involvement. Results from the BBC Loneliness Experiment showed that, unlike heterosexual ( N = 36,464) and other sexual minority people ( N = 3,684), asexual people ( N = 1,443) did not benefit—or did not benefit as strongly (depending on model choice)—from being in a romantic relationship, experiencing similar levels of loneliness regardless of relationship status or relationship satisfaction. However, being in a satisfying relationship did protect asexual people against expectations of loneliness in old age. These results highlight the importance of including populations that are typically excluded from research to test the robustness of established theories and findings in relationship science.