People are willing to settle for less in a relationship if they are afraid of being single, a new study has found.

According to Canadian researchers, a fear of being single is a ‘meaningful predictor' of who is willing to settle for less.

They surveyed adults of all ages across Canada and the US and found that those with ‘stronger fears about being single' were willing to settle for less.

"Sometimes they stay in relationships they aren't happy in, and sometimes they want to date people who aren't very good for them. Now we understand that people's anxieties about being single seem to play a key role in these types of unhealthy relationship behaviours," commented the study's lead author, Stephanie Spielmann, of the University of Toronto.

The researchers noted that both men and women appear to have similar concerns about being single, ‘contradicting the idea that only women struggle with a fear of being single'.

"Loneliness is a painful experience for both men and women, so it's not surprising that the fear of being single seems not to discriminate on the basis of gender," said the study's co-author, Prof Geoff MacDonald.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.