Taylor Swift is "figuring out how to cope" with life on her own.

The 24-year-old singer, who has been single since splitting up with Harry Styles in early 2013, said: "I just stopped dating people, because it meant a lot to me to set the record straight -- that I do not need some guy around in order to get inspiration, in order to make a great record, in order to live my life, in order to feel okay about myself. I wanted to show my fans the same thing."

The 'Out of the Woods' singer also previously dated Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Lautner and John Mayer, but thinks she has learned a lot from being single.

She told the November issue of Esquire magazine: "I've done more thinking and examining and figuring out how to cope with things on my own than I would have if I had been focusing on someone else's emotions and someone else's schedule. It's been really good."

But Taylor doesn't understand why her dating habits caused so much controversy in the past.

She said: "I would date someone, figure out we weren't compatible or figure out we didn't work out, and then we'd break up. That seems like a very normal thing for a young 20-something to do. I think it's healthy for everyone to go a few years without dating, just because you need to get to know who you are."