Singles Want Peace Over Passion. Women Want It Even More.
Match and the Kinsey Institute find U.S. singles pick peace and emotional safety over passion more than two to one. Among women, the split jumps to 40% versus 9%.
The dating script still sells fireworks. A lot of singles are shopping for quiet.
On Sept. 10, Match released its 15th annual Singles in America study with researchers at Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute.
About 5,000 U.S. singles answered questions on dating, attraction, and what they want from a relationship.
When forced to name what matters more, peace and emotional safety beat passion and excitement more than two to one: 34% versus 14%.
Among women, the gap gets loud. Forty percent chose peace and emotional safety. Nine percent chose passion and excitement.
That lands hard at dinner tables that still treat spark as proof and calm as a consolation prize. Plenty of people still want romance. In this survey, especially among women, more of them also want a relationship safe enough to keep living inside.
What Singles in America 2026 found
Match, in partnership with researchers at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, released the 15th annual Singles in America study on Sept. 10, 2026 (PR Newswire; Kinsey Institute announcement). Online survey of about 5,000 U.S. singles ages 18+, conducted March–April 2026; sample balanced for age and gender to U.S. Census demographics; not married, not living with a partner, not in a domestic partnership or committed relationship. Funded by Match; Kinsey collaboration. When asked to choose what matters more in a relationship, singles prioritized peace and emotional safety over passion and excitement 34% to 14%; among women, 40% vs 9%. Emotional-safety cues: feeling respected (61%), listened to (56%), able to share feelings without judgment (54%). Other findings: 72% interested in or open to dating/a relationship (16% actively seeking; 45% not actively looking but would welcome the right person); 76% believe romantic love can last forever; 49% have fallen for someone they were not initially attracted to; among checklist-keepers, 46% fell for someone who did not fit; top reasons attraction grew: great conversation (47%), shared interests (41%), shared values (35%); 41% would consider a second date even if the first was not exciting; 71% say being open about money builds trust; 70% open to a prenup or similar; 89% agree both partners should share equally in financial decisions. Gen Z/Millennial openness to dating: 81% / 78%. Justin Garcia, Kinsey Institute executive director, noted that clear expectations can coexist with surprise: nearly half have fallen for someone they were not initially attracted to. Caveat: Match funds the study; the peace-vs-passion item is a forced comparison, and percentages do not sum to 100%, so many respondents chose neither of those two labels.
U.S. singles in the Match/Kinsey survey prioritize peace and emotional safety over passion, and women do so by a much wider margin. For families that still grade spark and status first, that is a usable reframe of what ‘serious’ can look like.
Peace carries more of the week than fireworks do
Emotional safety in this survey sounds ordinary on paper: respect, being listened to, room to talk without getting judged.
Those are also the ingredients of a Tuesday that still feels steady at 10 p.m. Passion can arrive in a weekend. Safety shows up in how a partner handles your bad news, your parents, and your money stress.
Women chose peace at 40% to 9% in that forced ranking. Romance did not disappear from the room. Steadiness just won the vote by a landslide.
If you have been told you are “too picky” for wanting calm, the data puts company around that preference.
The checklist is weaker than conversation
Nearly half of singles (49%) said they have fallen for someone they were not initially attracted to. Among people who keep an ideal-partner checklist, 46% fell for someone who did not fit it.
What moved the needle was conversation first, then shared interests, then shared values. Forty-one percent said they would consider a second date even if the first was not exciting.
Justin Garcia, who leads the Kinsey Institute, put it cleanly: people know what they want, and love can still surprise them.
For diaspora dating that still runs on résumé fields (school, job, height, hometown), that finding is useful friction. Standards matter. Instant chemistry is a noisy signal.
Openness about money is part of the safety story
Seventy-one percent said being open about money builds trust. Seventy percent were open to a prenup or similar agreement. Eighty-nine percent agreed both partners should share financial decisions equally.
That sits next to the peace finding. Emotional safety is hard to sustain if money lives in a fog or one person owns every decision.
Our premarital money guide exists for the remittance, debt, and “whose city” fights that do not show up on a first-date spark test.
If relatives only ask whether there is chemistry, try answering whether you can talk about rent without performing.
Selective still leaves the door open
Seventy-two percent of singles were interested in or open to dating. Only 16% said they were actively hunting a committed relationship. Another 45% were not looking hard, but would welcome the right person.
Gen Z and millennials were especially open: 81% and 78%. Most still believe love can last forever.
Many people want a partner who feels emotionally safe, and they will wait rather than perform fireworks for an app.
That patience can look like delay to elders who measure life by wedding dates. To the people in the survey, it can look like self-protection with an open door.
A line for the group chat, and a check for your next date
If someone mocks “peace” as settling, borrow the women’s split: “In this survey, women chose emotional safety over passion 40 to 9. They ranked calm first.”
On your next date, watch for respect and listening as carefully as you watch for butterflies. Ask one money question earlier than feels stylish. Notice whether you feel judged for having a feeling.
Our parents-and-marriage-timeline guide helps when elders treat waiting like failure. The long-distance and premarital money guides help when the real test is logistics, not a montage.
Passion can still matter. This year’s singles data says a lot of people, and women especially, will not trade a livable week for a spectacular first month.