Only the Lonely?

There was an interesting observation embedded within Monica Hesse’s article on group houses in Monday’s Post. Of the five roommates she profiled, not one is an only child. Which made me wonder: do only children stay anti-social well into their twenties?

I’m an only child, and it took me a while to pry myself from self-induced isolation. In elementary school, I spent more lunch periods than I’d care to admit reading alone on the blacktop. But I’ve grown up since then. I like people now. I even hang out with them from time to time.

In fact, according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, while negative views of only children are common, they’re more myth than fact. Apparently, we’re no more lonely, selfish or maladjusted than anyone else.

Still, when I was apartment-hunting last summer, I knew without a doubt that group-house living wasn’t for me. So, here’s the question for you only children out there: does your only-ness still dictate your behavior?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 10:02 am and is filed under Misc, Washington Post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.