For most people, being in a romantic relationship offers a reliable buffer against loneliness. But a large-scale study involving more than 40,000 participants has found that this widely accepted benefit does not apply equally to asexual people, raising important questions about how relationship science understands well-being across different sexual identities.
The research, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, drew on data from the BBC Loneliness Experiment, an international online survey conducted in 2018. It compared levels of loneliness among heterosexual participants, other sexual minority groups including gay and bisexual people, and asexual participants, defined broadly as those who experience little or no sexual attraction or desire. The findings challenge a foundational assumption in relationship research: that romantic involvement is universally good for mental health.
Asexual participants reported higher levels of loneliness than heterosexual participants, though their scores were broadly similar to those of other sexual minority groups. They were also the least likely to be in a romantic relationship, with only 15% reporting romantic involvement compared with 48% of heterosexual participants. Among those who were in relationships, asexual participants reported the lowest levels of relationship satisfaction.
Crucially, while heterosexual and other sexual minority people reported meaningfully lower loneliness when romantically involved, the same pattern did not hold for asexual people. Whether asexual participants were single, in a satisfying relationship, or in an unsatisfying one, their loneliness scores remained largely stable. The protective effect that relationships offer most people simply did not materialise in the same way for this group.
The researchers suggest several possible explanations. Social stigma and the invisibility of asexual experiences within mainstream culture may create a persistent backdrop of isolation that romantic partnership cannot easily offset. It is also possible that asexual people draw companionship and emotional fulfilment from non-romantic connections, such as close friendships or what researchers describe as queerplatonic relationships, rather than romantic ones.
There was one notable exception. When looking at expectations of future loneliness in old age, being in a satisfying relationship did appear to offer some protection for asexual participants, broadly in line with findings for other groups. The researchers speculate that forward-looking optimism, rather than present-day relationship experience, may be driving this effect.
The study is the first to directly test whether romantic relationships protect asexual people from loneliness, and its authors argue that relationship science has long operated under assumptions that exclude asexual experiences. Approximately 0.4% to 3% of adults are thought to identify as asexual, a figure comparable to the proportion identifying as gay or lesbian in the United Kingdom.
The findings point to the need for researchers and clinicians to look beyond romantic relationship status as a universal marker of social well-being, particularly for people whose relational needs may be met through other forms of meaningful connection.