#nonmonogamy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nonmonogamy, aggregated by home.social.
-
DATE: September 12, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Having multiple partners does not compromise sexual health, large study finds
A recent study published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships provides evidence that engaging in multiple romantic or sexual relationships does not compromise sexual health. Across two large datasets, researchers found that people in non-monogamous relationships, whether through mutual consent or secrecy, tended to report sexual functioning, satisfaction, and health outcomes that were comparable to, and in some cases slightly better than, those of people in strictly monogamous relationships.
Consensual non-monogamy involves partners mutually agreeing to allow outside romantic or sexual relationships, such as in polyamory or swinging. Infidelity, by contrast, involves engaging in outside relationships secretly and without a partner’s consent.
It is a common assumption that monogamy is inherently safer and more satisfying, but prior work paints a different picture. A study covered by PsyPost in 2016 found that more than one in five single American adults have engaged in consensual non-monogamy at some point. Following this demographic realization, research has sought to understand how these relationship structures operate. For instance, a 2015 study found that people in mutually agreed-upon open relationships were just as likely to practice safe sex and had similar rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to monogamous couples.
Expanding on that, a 2012 study indicated that people who cheat on their partners tend to be less likely to practice safer sex than those in openly non-monogamous relationships. In terms of sexual satisfaction, a 2019 study suggested that polyamorous individuals often experience higher levels of passion and eroticism with secondary partners than with their primary partners.
The current study builds on this progression by testing whether sexual functioning, desire, and the risk of sexually transmitted infections actually differ across relationship types. By strictly distinguishing between consensual non-monogamy and secret infidelity, the researchers used both targeted and large representative population datasets to answer this question.
The research was led by Michelle Larva-Ruhala, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku’s INVEST Research Flagship Centre in Finland, who aimed to capture a comprehensive picture of how managing multiple partners influences sexual wellbeing.
“We addressed two gaps in research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala told PsyPost. “Firstly, we know from previous research that [consensually non-monogamous] relationships are similar to monogamous relationships in relationship quality and sexual satisfaction, but sexual functioning among people with multiple partners has not been studied outside the context of infidelity.”
“Second, the presumption has been that the transparent, negotiated, ‘ethical’ nature of (consensual) non-monogamy is what leads to these better outcomes and sets it apart from infidelity, which we associate with lower quality, conflict, etc.,” she continued. “So, in a nutshell, we wanted to know if having other partners had any ‘spillover effects’ into the bedroom, and whether the consensual vs. non-consensual nature of the non-monogamy had anything to do with it.”
The researchers utilized a two-study approach. In the first study, the team analyzed data from 888 adults recruited through an online survey across multiple countries, including the United States, Portugal, Italy, and Finland. Participants reported their relationship identity as either monogamous or consensually non-monogamous, which included categories like polyamory and open relationships. They also answered questions about how often their interactions with others felt like infidelity or involved keeping sexual and emotional secrets from their primary partner.
To measure sexual functioning, the survey used validated questionnaires assessing domains like desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction for women, and erection, ejaculation, and satisfaction for men. Participants with multiple partners completed these measures for up to two partners. The survey also asked about participants’ history of testing for and being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections.
The results of the first study showed that sexual functioning was largely similar between monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. However, partner-specific differences emerged. Women with multiple partners reported greater sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction with their non-primary partners compared to their primary partners, and their scores with non-primary partners were also higher than the scores reported by single-partnered women.
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that polyamorous individuals report greater eroticism with secondary partners, suggesting they may diversify how their sexual needs are fulfilled across different relationships. Among men, sexual functioning did not differ by relationship type or between partners.
When looking at sexual health practices, polyamorous individuals were 3.6 times more likely to have ever been tested for a sexually transmitted infection compared to monogamous individuals. Despite this higher rate of testing and having more partners, the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses did not differ between the two groups.
For the most part, infidelity was not linked to worse sexual functioning. There was one exception: men who reported keeping emotional attachments and sexual encounters secret from their primary partner tended to report lower sexual satisfaction in that primary relationship.
“We were surprised by the finding that infidelity was not associated with worse outcomes,” Larva-Ruhala noted. “Both studies suggest that, on average, having multiple concurrent partners isn’t necessarily tied to poorer sexual health, whether through consensual or non-consensual non-monogamy.”
The second study expanded the investigation to a population level, utilizing a pooled dataset of 10,503 participants from Finland. This dataset combined responses from genetic and behavioral research projects. Participants self-reported their relationship structure and completed broad measures of sexual wellbeing.
For women, this included overall sexual desire and functioning. For men, the researchers assessed premature ejaculatory symptoms, meaning how well they could control ejaculation. The study also measured general dyadic desire, which is the level of sexual interest a person feels toward an attractive partner.
To ensure fair comparisons between the small fraction of non-monogamous individuals and the large monogamous majority, the researchers statistically matched participants on factors like age, gender, and sociosexual orientation, a measure of how willing a person is to engage in uncommitted sex. They also controlled for whether the couples lived together and the gender of their partners.
This approach provided a unique advantage over previous work. “The method used in Study 2 is important for the current research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala explained. “Most studies… use data collected from online surveys that people in [consensually non-monogamous] relationships opt into, which is partly necessary in order to obtain a big enough pool of participants to conduct the analyses we want to do, but it also means heavy selection-bias.”
“People who are generally happy in their relationships and interested in representing their relationship configuration may be more quick to participate in these surveys,” she added. “However, study 2 used data from population-representative samples in studies not focused on [consensual non-monogamy], so we can assume people all across the board completed the survey, lowering some of that bias. It improves the generalizability of the results.”
In this population-based sample, non-monogamous men reported fewer early ejaculatory symptoms than monogamous men. Non-monogamous women reported higher global sexual desire than monogamous women. Both men and women in non-monogamous relationships reported slightly greater dyadic desire.
Again, when the researchers specifically isolated the effects of infidelity, defined here as cheating or having partners who were unaware and non-consenting, they found no effect on these sexual health outcomes. This broader lack of negative effects aligns with a major review covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that consensually non-monogamous individuals report levels of relationship and sexual satisfaction that are statistically indistinguishable from those of monogamous couples.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The studies relied entirely on self-reported measures of sexual functioning and health, which can sometimes differ from objective physiological indicators or medical records. People might misremember their history of sexually transmitted infections or bias their answers to appear in a more favorable light.
Additionally, the first study grouped some participants under the broad umbrella of non-monogamy without distinguishing the specific agreements they had with their partners, such as whether they cohabitate or adhere to strict relationship hierarchies. The measure of infidelity in the second study also combined current and past cheating, meaning some participants may have reconciled with their partners long ago, potentially diluting the measurable impact of the infidelity on current sexual health. Future research could benefit from tracking couples over time to see how relationship structures and sexual health influence each other as relationship agreements evolve.
“Just because we didn’t find many differences in sexual health between those who cheat and those who practice ‘ethical’ forms of non-monogamy, doesn’t mean that doing one or the other is of no consequence,” Larva-Ruhala emphasized. “The results certainly don’t condone infidelity. They simply show that people can maintain sexual health under both versions of non-monogamy.”
To build on these findings, the research team hopes to see this work expanded. “We need replication research to validate or contradict these findings with further evidence, preferably in population-based samples from other countries,” she said.
The study, “Sexual Health in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Relationships: Evidence From Convenience and Population-Based Samples,” was authored by Michelle A. Larva, David L. Rodrigues, Annika Gunst, Patrick Jern, Sabina Nickull, Marie-Pier Larose, Markus J. Rantala, and Justin K. Mogilski.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SexualHealth #NonMonogamy #ConsensualNonMonogamy #OpenRelationships #Polyamory #SexualSatisfaction #SafeSex #Infidelity #RelationshipResearch #MonogamyMyth
-
DATE: September 12, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Having multiple partners does not compromise sexual health, large study finds
A recent study published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships provides evidence that engaging in multiple romantic or sexual relationships does not compromise sexual health. Across two large datasets, researchers found that people in non-monogamous relationships, whether through mutual consent or secrecy, tended to report sexual functioning, satisfaction, and health outcomes that were comparable to, and in some cases slightly better than, those of people in strictly monogamous relationships.
Consensual non-monogamy involves partners mutually agreeing to allow outside romantic or sexual relationships, such as in polyamory or swinging. Infidelity, by contrast, involves engaging in outside relationships secretly and without a partner’s consent.
It is a common assumption that monogamy is inherently safer and more satisfying, but prior work paints a different picture. A study covered by PsyPost in 2016 found that more than one in five single American adults have engaged in consensual non-monogamy at some point. Following this demographic realization, research has sought to understand how these relationship structures operate. For instance, a 2015 study found that people in mutually agreed-upon open relationships were just as likely to practice safe sex and had similar rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to monogamous couples.
Expanding on that, a 2012 study indicated that people who cheat on their partners tend to be less likely to practice safer sex than those in openly non-monogamous relationships. In terms of sexual satisfaction, a 2019 study suggested that polyamorous individuals often experience higher levels of passion and eroticism with secondary partners than with their primary partners.
The current study builds on this progression by testing whether sexual functioning, desire, and the risk of sexually transmitted infections actually differ across relationship types. By strictly distinguishing between consensual non-monogamy and secret infidelity, the researchers used both targeted and large representative population datasets to answer this question.
The research was led by Michelle Larva-Ruhala, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku’s INVEST Research Flagship Centre in Finland, who aimed to capture a comprehensive picture of how managing multiple partners influences sexual wellbeing.
“We addressed two gaps in research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala told PsyPost. “Firstly, we know from previous research that [consensually non-monogamous] relationships are similar to monogamous relationships in relationship quality and sexual satisfaction, but sexual functioning among people with multiple partners has not been studied outside the context of infidelity.”
“Second, the presumption has been that the transparent, negotiated, ‘ethical’ nature of (consensual) non-monogamy is what leads to these better outcomes and sets it apart from infidelity, which we associate with lower quality, conflict, etc.,” she continued. “So, in a nutshell, we wanted to know if having other partners had any ‘spillover effects’ into the bedroom, and whether the consensual vs. non-consensual nature of the non-monogamy had anything to do with it.”
The researchers utilized a two-study approach. In the first study, the team analyzed data from 888 adults recruited through an online survey across multiple countries, including the United States, Portugal, Italy, and Finland. Participants reported their relationship identity as either monogamous or consensually non-monogamous, which included categories like polyamory and open relationships. They also answered questions about how often their interactions with others felt like infidelity or involved keeping sexual and emotional secrets from their primary partner.
To measure sexual functioning, the survey used validated questionnaires assessing domains like desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction for women, and erection, ejaculation, and satisfaction for men. Participants with multiple partners completed these measures for up to two partners. The survey also asked about participants’ history of testing for and being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections.
The results of the first study showed that sexual functioning was largely similar between monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. However, partner-specific differences emerged. Women with multiple partners reported greater sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction with their non-primary partners compared to their primary partners, and their scores with non-primary partners were also higher than the scores reported by single-partnered women.
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that polyamorous individuals report greater eroticism with secondary partners, suggesting they may diversify how their sexual needs are fulfilled across different relationships. Among men, sexual functioning did not differ by relationship type or between partners.
When looking at sexual health practices, polyamorous individuals were 3.6 times more likely to have ever been tested for a sexually transmitted infection compared to monogamous individuals. Despite this higher rate of testing and having more partners, the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses did not differ between the two groups.
For the most part, infidelity was not linked to worse sexual functioning. There was one exception: men who reported keeping emotional attachments and sexual encounters secret from their primary partner tended to report lower sexual satisfaction in that primary relationship.
“We were surprised by the finding that infidelity was not associated with worse outcomes,” Larva-Ruhala noted. “Both studies suggest that, on average, having multiple concurrent partners isn’t necessarily tied to poorer sexual health, whether through consensual or non-consensual non-monogamy.”
The second study expanded the investigation to a population level, utilizing a pooled dataset of 10,503 participants from Finland. This dataset combined responses from genetic and behavioral research projects. Participants self-reported their relationship structure and completed broad measures of sexual wellbeing.
For women, this included overall sexual desire and functioning. For men, the researchers assessed premature ejaculatory symptoms, meaning how well they could control ejaculation. The study also measured general dyadic desire, which is the level of sexual interest a person feels toward an attractive partner.
To ensure fair comparisons between the small fraction of non-monogamous individuals and the large monogamous majority, the researchers statistically matched participants on factors like age, gender, and sociosexual orientation, a measure of how willing a person is to engage in uncommitted sex. They also controlled for whether the couples lived together and the gender of their partners.
This approach provided a unique advantage over previous work. “The method used in Study 2 is important for the current research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala explained. “Most studies… use data collected from online surveys that people in [consensually non-monogamous] relationships opt into, which is partly necessary in order to obtain a big enough pool of participants to conduct the analyses we want to do, but it also means heavy selection-bias.”
“People who are generally happy in their relationships and interested in representing their relationship configuration may be more quick to participate in these surveys,” she added. “However, study 2 used data from population-representative samples in studies not focused on [consensual non-monogamy], so we can assume people all across the board completed the survey, lowering some of that bias. It improves the generalizability of the results.”
In this population-based sample, non-monogamous men reported fewer early ejaculatory symptoms than monogamous men. Non-monogamous women reported higher global sexual desire than monogamous women. Both men and women in non-monogamous relationships reported slightly greater dyadic desire.
Again, when the researchers specifically isolated the effects of infidelity, defined here as cheating or having partners who were unaware and non-consenting, they found no effect on these sexual health outcomes. This broader lack of negative effects aligns with a major review covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that consensually non-monogamous individuals report levels of relationship and sexual satisfaction that are statistically indistinguishable from those of monogamous couples.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The studies relied entirely on self-reported measures of sexual functioning and health, which can sometimes differ from objective physiological indicators or medical records. People might misremember their history of sexually transmitted infections or bias their answers to appear in a more favorable light.
Additionally, the first study grouped some participants under the broad umbrella of non-monogamy without distinguishing the specific agreements they had with their partners, such as whether they cohabitate or adhere to strict relationship hierarchies. The measure of infidelity in the second study also combined current and past cheating, meaning some participants may have reconciled with their partners long ago, potentially diluting the measurable impact of the infidelity on current sexual health. Future research could benefit from tracking couples over time to see how relationship structures and sexual health influence each other as relationship agreements evolve.
“Just because we didn’t find many differences in sexual health between those who cheat and those who practice ‘ethical’ forms of non-monogamy, doesn’t mean that doing one or the other is of no consequence,” Larva-Ruhala emphasized. “The results certainly don’t condone infidelity. They simply show that people can maintain sexual health under both versions of non-monogamy.”
To build on these findings, the research team hopes to see this work expanded. “We need replication research to validate or contradict these findings with further evidence, preferably in population-based samples from other countries,” she said.
The study, “Sexual Health in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Relationships: Evidence From Convenience and Population-Based Samples,” was authored by Michelle A. Larva, David L. Rodrigues, Annika Gunst, Patrick Jern, Sabina Nickull, Marie-Pier Larose, Markus J. Rantala, and Justin K. Mogilski.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SexualHealth #NonMonogamy #ConsensualNonMonogamy #OpenRelationships #Polyamory #SexualSatisfaction #SafeSex #Infidelity #RelationshipResearch #MonogamyMyth
-
DATE: September 12, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Having multiple partners does not compromise sexual health, large study finds
A recent study published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships provides evidence that engaging in multiple romantic or sexual relationships does not compromise sexual health. Across two large datasets, researchers found that people in non-monogamous relationships, whether through mutual consent or secrecy, tended to report sexual functioning, satisfaction, and health outcomes that were comparable to, and in some cases slightly better than, those of people in strictly monogamous relationships.
Consensual non-monogamy involves partners mutually agreeing to allow outside romantic or sexual relationships, such as in polyamory or swinging. Infidelity, by contrast, involves engaging in outside relationships secretly and without a partner’s consent.
It is a common assumption that monogamy is inherently safer and more satisfying, but prior work paints a different picture. A study covered by PsyPost in 2016 found that more than one in five single American adults have engaged in consensual non-monogamy at some point. Following this demographic realization, research has sought to understand how these relationship structures operate. For instance, a 2015 study found that people in mutually agreed-upon open relationships were just as likely to practice safe sex and had similar rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to monogamous couples.
Expanding on that, a 2012 study indicated that people who cheat on their partners tend to be less likely to practice safer sex than those in openly non-monogamous relationships. In terms of sexual satisfaction, a 2019 study suggested that polyamorous individuals often experience higher levels of passion and eroticism with secondary partners than with their primary partners.
The current study builds on this progression by testing whether sexual functioning, desire, and the risk of sexually transmitted infections actually differ across relationship types. By strictly distinguishing between consensual non-monogamy and secret infidelity, the researchers used both targeted and large representative population datasets to answer this question.
The research was led by Michelle Larva-Ruhala, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku’s INVEST Research Flagship Centre in Finland, who aimed to capture a comprehensive picture of how managing multiple partners influences sexual wellbeing.
“We addressed two gaps in research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala told PsyPost. “Firstly, we know from previous research that [consensually non-monogamous] relationships are similar to monogamous relationships in relationship quality and sexual satisfaction, but sexual functioning among people with multiple partners has not been studied outside the context of infidelity.”
“Second, the presumption has been that the transparent, negotiated, ‘ethical’ nature of (consensual) non-monogamy is what leads to these better outcomes and sets it apart from infidelity, which we associate with lower quality, conflict, etc.,” she continued. “So, in a nutshell, we wanted to know if having other partners had any ‘spillover effects’ into the bedroom, and whether the consensual vs. non-consensual nature of the non-monogamy had anything to do with it.”
The researchers utilized a two-study approach. In the first study, the team analyzed data from 888 adults recruited through an online survey across multiple countries, including the United States, Portugal, Italy, and Finland. Participants reported their relationship identity as either monogamous or consensually non-monogamous, which included categories like polyamory and open relationships. They also answered questions about how often their interactions with others felt like infidelity or involved keeping sexual and emotional secrets from their primary partner.
To measure sexual functioning, the survey used validated questionnaires assessing domains like desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction for women, and erection, ejaculation, and satisfaction for men. Participants with multiple partners completed these measures for up to two partners. The survey also asked about participants’ history of testing for and being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections.
The results of the first study showed that sexual functioning was largely similar between monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. However, partner-specific differences emerged. Women with multiple partners reported greater sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction with their non-primary partners compared to their primary partners, and their scores with non-primary partners were also higher than the scores reported by single-partnered women.
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that polyamorous individuals report greater eroticism with secondary partners, suggesting they may diversify how their sexual needs are fulfilled across different relationships. Among men, sexual functioning did not differ by relationship type or between partners.
When looking at sexual health practices, polyamorous individuals were 3.6 times more likely to have ever been tested for a sexually transmitted infection compared to monogamous individuals. Despite this higher rate of testing and having more partners, the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses did not differ between the two groups.
For the most part, infidelity was not linked to worse sexual functioning. There was one exception: men who reported keeping emotional attachments and sexual encounters secret from their primary partner tended to report lower sexual satisfaction in that primary relationship.
“We were surprised by the finding that infidelity was not associated with worse outcomes,” Larva-Ruhala noted. “Both studies suggest that, on average, having multiple concurrent partners isn’t necessarily tied to poorer sexual health, whether through consensual or non-consensual non-monogamy.”
The second study expanded the investigation to a population level, utilizing a pooled dataset of 10,503 participants from Finland. This dataset combined responses from genetic and behavioral research projects. Participants self-reported their relationship structure and completed broad measures of sexual wellbeing.
For women, this included overall sexual desire and functioning. For men, the researchers assessed premature ejaculatory symptoms, meaning how well they could control ejaculation. The study also measured general dyadic desire, which is the level of sexual interest a person feels toward an attractive partner.
To ensure fair comparisons between the small fraction of non-monogamous individuals and the large monogamous majority, the researchers statistically matched participants on factors like age, gender, and sociosexual orientation, a measure of how willing a person is to engage in uncommitted sex. They also controlled for whether the couples lived together and the gender of their partners.
This approach provided a unique advantage over previous work. “The method used in Study 2 is important for the current research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala explained. “Most studies… use data collected from online surveys that people in [consensually non-monogamous] relationships opt into, which is partly necessary in order to obtain a big enough pool of participants to conduct the analyses we want to do, but it also means heavy selection-bias.”
“People who are generally happy in their relationships and interested in representing their relationship configuration may be more quick to participate in these surveys,” she added. “However, study 2 used data from population-representative samples in studies not focused on [consensual non-monogamy], so we can assume people all across the board completed the survey, lowering some of that bias. It improves the generalizability of the results.”
In this population-based sample, non-monogamous men reported fewer early ejaculatory symptoms than monogamous men. Non-monogamous women reported higher global sexual desire than monogamous women. Both men and women in non-monogamous relationships reported slightly greater dyadic desire.
Again, when the researchers specifically isolated the effects of infidelity, defined here as cheating or having partners who were unaware and non-consenting, they found no effect on these sexual health outcomes. This broader lack of negative effects aligns with a major review covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that consensually non-monogamous individuals report levels of relationship and sexual satisfaction that are statistically indistinguishable from those of monogamous couples.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The studies relied entirely on self-reported measures of sexual functioning and health, which can sometimes differ from objective physiological indicators or medical records. People might misremember their history of sexually transmitted infections or bias their answers to appear in a more favorable light.
Additionally, the first study grouped some participants under the broad umbrella of non-monogamy without distinguishing the specific agreements they had with their partners, such as whether they cohabitate or adhere to strict relationship hierarchies. The measure of infidelity in the second study also combined current and past cheating, meaning some participants may have reconciled with their partners long ago, potentially diluting the measurable impact of the infidelity on current sexual health. Future research could benefit from tracking couples over time to see how relationship structures and sexual health influence each other as relationship agreements evolve.
“Just because we didn’t find many differences in sexual health between those who cheat and those who practice ‘ethical’ forms of non-monogamy, doesn’t mean that doing one or the other is of no consequence,” Larva-Ruhala emphasized. “The results certainly don’t condone infidelity. They simply show that people can maintain sexual health under both versions of non-monogamy.”
To build on these findings, the research team hopes to see this work expanded. “We need replication research to validate or contradict these findings with further evidence, preferably in population-based samples from other countries,” she said.
The study, “Sexual Health in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Relationships: Evidence From Convenience and Population-Based Samples,” was authored by Michelle A. Larva, David L. Rodrigues, Annika Gunst, Patrick Jern, Sabina Nickull, Marie-Pier Larose, Markus J. Rantala, and Justin K. Mogilski.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SexualHealth #NonMonogamy #ConsensualNonMonogamy #OpenRelationships #Polyamory #SexualSatisfaction #SafeSex #Infidelity #RelationshipResearch #MonogamyMyth
-
DATE: September 12, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Having multiple partners does not compromise sexual health, large study finds
A recent study published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships provides evidence that engaging in multiple romantic or sexual relationships does not compromise sexual health. Across two large datasets, researchers found that people in non-monogamous relationships, whether through mutual consent or secrecy, tended to report sexual functioning, satisfaction, and health outcomes that were comparable to, and in some cases slightly better than, those of people in strictly monogamous relationships.
Consensual non-monogamy involves partners mutually agreeing to allow outside romantic or sexual relationships, such as in polyamory or swinging. Infidelity, by contrast, involves engaging in outside relationships secretly and without a partner’s consent.
It is a common assumption that monogamy is inherently safer and more satisfying, but prior work paints a different picture. A study covered by PsyPost in 2016 found that more than one in five single American adults have engaged in consensual non-monogamy at some point. Following this demographic realization, research has sought to understand how these relationship structures operate. For instance, a 2015 study found that people in mutually agreed-upon open relationships were just as likely to practice safe sex and had similar rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to monogamous couples.
Expanding on that, a 2012 study indicated that people who cheat on their partners tend to be less likely to practice safer sex than those in openly non-monogamous relationships. In terms of sexual satisfaction, a 2019 study suggested that polyamorous individuals often experience higher levels of passion and eroticism with secondary partners than with their primary partners.
The current study builds on this progression by testing whether sexual functioning, desire, and the risk of sexually transmitted infections actually differ across relationship types. By strictly distinguishing between consensual non-monogamy and secret infidelity, the researchers used both targeted and large representative population datasets to answer this question.
The research was led by Michelle Larva-Ruhala, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku’s INVEST Research Flagship Centre in Finland, who aimed to capture a comprehensive picture of how managing multiple partners influences sexual wellbeing.
“We addressed two gaps in research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala told PsyPost. “Firstly, we know from previous research that [consensually non-monogamous] relationships are similar to monogamous relationships in relationship quality and sexual satisfaction, but sexual functioning among people with multiple partners has not been studied outside the context of infidelity.”
“Second, the presumption has been that the transparent, negotiated, ‘ethical’ nature of (consensual) non-monogamy is what leads to these better outcomes and sets it apart from infidelity, which we associate with lower quality, conflict, etc.,” she continued. “So, in a nutshell, we wanted to know if having other partners had any ‘spillover effects’ into the bedroom, and whether the consensual vs. non-consensual nature of the non-monogamy had anything to do with it.”
The researchers utilized a two-study approach. In the first study, the team analyzed data from 888 adults recruited through an online survey across multiple countries, including the United States, Portugal, Italy, and Finland. Participants reported their relationship identity as either monogamous or consensually non-monogamous, which included categories like polyamory and open relationships. They also answered questions about how often their interactions with others felt like infidelity or involved keeping sexual and emotional secrets from their primary partner.
To measure sexual functioning, the survey used validated questionnaires assessing domains like desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction for women, and erection, ejaculation, and satisfaction for men. Participants with multiple partners completed these measures for up to two partners. The survey also asked about participants’ history of testing for and being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections.
The results of the first study showed that sexual functioning was largely similar between monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. However, partner-specific differences emerged. Women with multiple partners reported greater sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction with their non-primary partners compared to their primary partners, and their scores with non-primary partners were also higher than the scores reported by single-partnered women.
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that polyamorous individuals report greater eroticism with secondary partners, suggesting they may diversify how their sexual needs are fulfilled across different relationships. Among men, sexual functioning did not differ by relationship type or between partners.
When looking at sexual health practices, polyamorous individuals were 3.6 times more likely to have ever been tested for a sexually transmitted infection compared to monogamous individuals. Despite this higher rate of testing and having more partners, the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses did not differ between the two groups.
For the most part, infidelity was not linked to worse sexual functioning. There was one exception: men who reported keeping emotional attachments and sexual encounters secret from their primary partner tended to report lower sexual satisfaction in that primary relationship.
“We were surprised by the finding that infidelity was not associated with worse outcomes,” Larva-Ruhala noted. “Both studies suggest that, on average, having multiple concurrent partners isn’t necessarily tied to poorer sexual health, whether through consensual or non-consensual non-monogamy.”
The second study expanded the investigation to a population level, utilizing a pooled dataset of 10,503 participants from Finland. This dataset combined responses from genetic and behavioral research projects. Participants self-reported their relationship structure and completed broad measures of sexual wellbeing.
For women, this included overall sexual desire and functioning. For men, the researchers assessed premature ejaculatory symptoms, meaning how well they could control ejaculation. The study also measured general dyadic desire, which is the level of sexual interest a person feels toward an attractive partner.
To ensure fair comparisons between the small fraction of non-monogamous individuals and the large monogamous majority, the researchers statistically matched participants on factors like age, gender, and sociosexual orientation, a measure of how willing a person is to engage in uncommitted sex. They also controlled for whether the couples lived together and the gender of their partners.
This approach provided a unique advantage over previous work. “The method used in Study 2 is important for the current research on [consensual non-monogamy],” Larva-Ruhala explained. “Most studies… use data collected from online surveys that people in [consensually non-monogamous] relationships opt into, which is partly necessary in order to obtain a big enough pool of participants to conduct the analyses we want to do, but it also means heavy selection-bias.”
“People who are generally happy in their relationships and interested in representing their relationship configuration may be more quick to participate in these surveys,” she added. “However, study 2 used data from population-representative samples in studies not focused on [consensual non-monogamy], so we can assume people all across the board completed the survey, lowering some of that bias. It improves the generalizability of the results.”
In this population-based sample, non-monogamous men reported fewer early ejaculatory symptoms than monogamous men. Non-monogamous women reported higher global sexual desire than monogamous women. Both men and women in non-monogamous relationships reported slightly greater dyadic desire.
Again, when the researchers specifically isolated the effects of infidelity, defined here as cheating or having partners who were unaware and non-consenting, they found no effect on these sexual health outcomes. This broader lack of negative effects aligns with a major review covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that consensually non-monogamous individuals report levels of relationship and sexual satisfaction that are statistically indistinguishable from those of monogamous couples.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The studies relied entirely on self-reported measures of sexual functioning and health, which can sometimes differ from objective physiological indicators or medical records. People might misremember their history of sexually transmitted infections or bias their answers to appear in a more favorable light.
Additionally, the first study grouped some participants under the broad umbrella of non-monogamy without distinguishing the specific agreements they had with their partners, such as whether they cohabitate or adhere to strict relationship hierarchies. The measure of infidelity in the second study also combined current and past cheating, meaning some participants may have reconciled with their partners long ago, potentially diluting the measurable impact of the infidelity on current sexual health. Future research could benefit from tracking couples over time to see how relationship structures and sexual health influence each other as relationship agreements evolve.
“Just because we didn’t find many differences in sexual health between those who cheat and those who practice ‘ethical’ forms of non-monogamy, doesn’t mean that doing one or the other is of no consequence,” Larva-Ruhala emphasized. “The results certainly don’t condone infidelity. They simply show that people can maintain sexual health under both versions of non-monogamy.”
To build on these findings, the research team hopes to see this work expanded. “We need replication research to validate or contradict these findings with further evidence, preferably in population-based samples from other countries,” she said.
The study, “Sexual Health in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Relationships: Evidence From Convenience and Population-Based Samples,” was authored by Michelle A. Larva, David L. Rodrigues, Annika Gunst, Patrick Jern, Sabina Nickull, Marie-Pier Larose, Markus J. Rantala, and Justin K. Mogilski.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SexualHealth #NonMonogamy #ConsensualNonMonogamy #OpenRelationships #Polyamory #SexualSatisfaction #SafeSex #Infidelity #RelationshipResearch #MonogamyMyth
-
Liquid Love 🩷🪔
Le vendredi 12 mars 2027 de 18h30 à 22h30📌 Lieu à définir, Hautes-Alpes🩷 Rose - Évènement sensuel : voir le code couleur et le cadre. - Expérience d'au moins un évènement blanc requise🔢 Module 5 de la saison 2026/2027💶 À prix l
https://maour.eu/ateliers-tactiles/liquid-love-2027-03-12/#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre
-
Liquid Love 🩷🪔
Le vendredi 12 mars 2027 de 18h30 à 22h30📌 Lieu à définir, Hautes-Alpes🩷 Rose - Évènement sensuel : voir le code couleur et le cadre. - Expérience d'au moins un évènement blanc requise🔢 Module 5 de la saison 2026/2027💶 À prix l
https://maour.eu/ateliers-tactiles/liquid-love-2027-03-12/#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre
-
Liquid Love 🩷🪔
Le vendredi 12 mars 2027 de 18h30 à 22h30📌 Lieu à définir, Hautes-Alpes🩷 Rose - Évènement sensuel : voir le code couleur et le cadre. - Expérience d'au moins un évènement blanc requise🔢 Module 5 de la saison 2026/2027💶 À prix l
https://maour.eu/ateliers-tactiles/liquid-love-2027-03-12/#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre
-
Liquid Love 🩷🪔
Le vendredi 12 mars 2027 de 18h30 à 22h30📌 Lieu à définir, Hautes-Alpes🩷 Rose - Évènement sensuel : voir le code couleur et le cadre. - Expérience d'au moins un évènement blanc requise🔢 Module 5 de la saison 2026/2027💶 À prix l
https://maour.eu/ateliers-tactiles/liquid-love-2027-03-12/#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre
-
Liquid Love 🩷🪔
Le vendredi 12 mars 2027 de 18h30 à 22h30📌 Lieu à définir, Hautes-Alpes🩷 Rose - Évènement sensuel : voir le code couleur et le cadre. - Expérience d'au moins un évènement blanc requise🔢 Module 5 de la saison 2026/2027💶 À prix l
https://maour.eu/ateliers-tactiles/liquid-love-2027-03-12/#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre
-
CW: Self-promo, podcast episode
Last month I had a lovely talk with educator Fabienne Vailes. Today, it's finally published as a podcast episode!
We talked about Eros, intimacy, following the flow, injustices within academia, being an accomplice, and so much more.
(Sharing the least problematic link I could find. It's available on all the podcast places, you know the deal.)
#podcast #education #eros #intimacy #posthumanism #ecofeminism #philosophy #academia #relationships #nonmonogamy #DonnaHaraway #accomplices
-
CW: Self-promo, podcast episode
Last month I had a lovely talk with educator Fabienne Vailes. Today, it's finally published as a podcast episode!
We talked about Eros, intimacy, following the flow, injustices within academia, being an accomplice, and so much more.
(Sharing the least problematic link I could find. It's available on all the podcast places, you know the deal.)
#podcast #education #eros #intimacy #posthumanism #ecofeminism #philosophy #academia #relationships #nonmonogamy #DonnaHaraway #accomplices
-
CW: Self-promo, podcast episode
Last month I had a lovely talk with educator Fabienne Vailes. Today, it's finally published as a podcast episode!
We talked about Eros, intimacy, following the flow, injustices within academia, being an accomplice, and so much more.
(Sharing the least problematic link I could find. It's available on all the podcast places, you know the deal.)
#podcast #education #eros #intimacy #posthumanism #ecofeminism #philosophy #academia #relationships #nonmonogamy #DonnaHaraway #accomplices
-
CW: Self-promo, podcast episode
Last month I had a lovely talk with educator Fabienne Vailes. Today, it's finally published as a podcast episode!
We talked about Eros, intimacy, following the flow, injustices within academia, being an accomplice, and so much more.
(Sharing the least problematic link I could find. It's available on all the podcast places, you know the deal.)
#podcast #education #eros #intimacy #posthumanism #ecofeminism #philosophy #academia #relationships #nonmonogamy #DonnaHaraway #accomplices
-
CW: Self-promo, podcast episode
Last month I had a lovely talk with educator Fabienne Vailes. Today, it's finally published as a podcast episode!
We talked about Eros, intimacy, following the flow, injustices within academia, being an accomplice, and so much more.
(Sharing the least problematic link I could find. It's available on all the podcast places, you know the deal.)
#podcast #education #eros #intimacy #posthumanism #ecofeminism #philosophy #academia #relationships #nonmonogamy #DonnaHaraway #accomplices
-
DATE: August 21, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women face higher risks of partner violence during the weeks their partners cheat
An analysis of the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study data found that women were more likely to experience violence from their intimate partners at the time the partner was having another sexual partner. This was the case both in situations where the couple did not have an explicit agreement about monogamy and when they had an agreement to be monogamous (that the partner broke). The probability that the relationship will be dissolved was higher after these events. The paper was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Intimate relationships are an important part of adolescence and early adulthood. They help young people develop skills that can shape their relationships later in life. Yet young relationships do not always provide positive experiences. Conflict, controlling behavior, violence, and infidelity can all occur during this period. Therefore, learning to end an unhealthy relationship may be just as important a developmental task as learning how to form and maintain one.
People generally decide whether to remain with a partner by weighing what they gain from the relationship against its emotional and practical costs. Negative experiences can increase those costs, reduce relationship satisfaction, and make being single or finding another partner seem more attractive.
However, not every harmful experience has the same meaning or the same likelihood of bringing a relationship to an end. Physical aggression, psychological abuse, threats, and controlling behavior can overlap, making it difficult to separate their individual effects on a relationship. Infidelity can be particularly destabilizing because it represents a clear violation of an explicit expectation of monogamy and introduces another person into the relationship.
Study authors Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki examined how intimate partner violence and non-monogamy (having more than one partner at the same time) co-occur and shape the probability of relationship dissolution. They differentiate between two types of non-monogamy – ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and non-consensual non-monogamy.
Ambiguous-consent non-monogamy is a situation where a person has concurrent sexual partners without an explicit agreement about monogamy or non-monogamy. Non-consensual non-monogamy represents a situation where a person has additional sexual partners while in a committed monogamous relationship (this is also called cheating). Study authors expected that intimate partner violence and these two types of non-monogamy will tend to co-occur in relationships and that they increase the probability of subsequent relationship dissolution.
They analyzed data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study. This study involved 1003 young women who were 18-19 years old at the start of the study, drawn from a diverse Michigan county. 992 of them agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study. The study followed these women for 2.5 years, to 20-22.5 years of age. It was focused on young pregnancies. Participants were sampled randomly using a database of all driver’s license holders and personal ID card holders for that county. 84% of women selected for participation in this way agreed to participate.
The study began with a 60-minute face-to-face baseline survey focused on respondent’s current intimate relationship, attitudes, and experiences related to intimate relationships and pregnancy. This was followed (for participants who agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study) by brief weekly online or telephone surveys to assess ongoing experiences.
Overall, 75% of participants participated in the study for at least 18 months. Participants received small payments for their participation and completion of weekly surveys. Study authors excluded women who did not have sex with male partners, as well as women whose relationships ended before the follow-up surveys began, making the final analyzed sample 895 women.
Results showed that 80% of participants’ relationships ended during the study period. 41% of relationships included fighting (but without intimate partner violence), and 28% of relationships included intimate partner violence. 52% of participants experienced intimate partner violence.
Participating women reported engaging in non-consensual non-monogamy (cheating) in 5% of relationships, while they reported their partner doing this in 7% of relationships. They reported engaging in ambiguous-consent non-monogamy in 9% of relationships, while reporting this for their partner in 16% of relationships.
They reported having sex during 42% of weeks in which they had a partner. On average, relationships lasted 9 months and 85% of them did not include pregnancies or births. 6% included a pregnancy that did not lead to a birth, and 8% of these relationships resulted in a child. Partners were, on average, 2 years older than respondents.
Participants were more likely to experience violence from their partner in the weeks when their partner was having another sexual partner, both in situations where this represented ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and when it was non-consensual non-monogamy (i.e., when the partner was cheating). Relationships were more likely to dissolve after both types of non-monogamy and after intimate partner violence.
The authors framed these findings using expectancy violations theory, which is the idea that people have strict standards for how their partners should behave, and breaking those rules triggers a severe reassessment of the relationship.
“Findings, interpreted through expectancy violations theory, suggest NCNM [non-consensual non-monogamy i.e., cheating on a partner in a monogamous relationship] and ACNM [ambiguous consent non-monogamy i.e., having additional sexual partners without an explicit agreement] function as powerful relational breaches, while physical IPV [intimate partner violence] (assault) may operate differently from chronic psychological IPV in predicting dissolution,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of romantic relationships. However, although the study collected data on participants’ own non-monogamous behavior, the authors did not report the associations between these types of participants’ behavior and intimate partner violence. Therefore, it remains unreported whether participating women’s own non-monogamous behaviors were associated with intimate partner violence, or how often participants’ and their partners’ non-monogamous behaviors co-occurred. Additionally, the paper did not measure participant-perpetrated intimate partner violence in the same way it measured violence perpetrated by their partners, making the asymmetry starker.
The paper, “Intimate Partner Violence, Ambiguous and Non-Consensual Non-Monogamy, and Breaking Up During Young Adulthood,” was authored by Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #IntimatePartnerViolence #NonMonogamy #CheatingImpact #RelationshipDissolution #YoungAdultsRelationships #IPVAwareness #MonogamyExpectations #RelationshipDynamics #StaySafeInRelationships #GenderViolenceResearch
-
DATE: August 21, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women face higher risks of partner violence during the weeks their partners cheat
An analysis of the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study data found that women were more likely to experience violence from their intimate partners at the time the partner was having another sexual partner. This was the case both in situations where the couple did not have an explicit agreement about monogamy and when they had an agreement to be monogamous (that the partner broke). The probability that the relationship will be dissolved was higher after these events. The paper was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Intimate relationships are an important part of adolescence and early adulthood. They help young people develop skills that can shape their relationships later in life. Yet young relationships do not always provide positive experiences. Conflict, controlling behavior, violence, and infidelity can all occur during this period. Therefore, learning to end an unhealthy relationship may be just as important a developmental task as learning how to form and maintain one.
People generally decide whether to remain with a partner by weighing what they gain from the relationship against its emotional and practical costs. Negative experiences can increase those costs, reduce relationship satisfaction, and make being single or finding another partner seem more attractive.
However, not every harmful experience has the same meaning or the same likelihood of bringing a relationship to an end. Physical aggression, psychological abuse, threats, and controlling behavior can overlap, making it difficult to separate their individual effects on a relationship. Infidelity can be particularly destabilizing because it represents a clear violation of an explicit expectation of monogamy and introduces another person into the relationship.
Study authors Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki examined how intimate partner violence and non-monogamy (having more than one partner at the same time) co-occur and shape the probability of relationship dissolution. They differentiate between two types of non-monogamy – ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and non-consensual non-monogamy.
Ambiguous-consent non-monogamy is a situation where a person has concurrent sexual partners without an explicit agreement about monogamy or non-monogamy. Non-consensual non-monogamy represents a situation where a person has additional sexual partners while in a committed monogamous relationship (this is also called cheating). Study authors expected that intimate partner violence and these two types of non-monogamy will tend to co-occur in relationships and that they increase the probability of subsequent relationship dissolution.
They analyzed data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study. This study involved 1003 young women who were 18-19 years old at the start of the study, drawn from a diverse Michigan county. 992 of them agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study. The study followed these women for 2.5 years, to 20-22.5 years of age. It was focused on young pregnancies. Participants were sampled randomly using a database of all driver’s license holders and personal ID card holders for that county. 84% of women selected for participation in this way agreed to participate.
The study began with a 60-minute face-to-face baseline survey focused on respondent’s current intimate relationship, attitudes, and experiences related to intimate relationships and pregnancy. This was followed (for participants who agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study) by brief weekly online or telephone surveys to assess ongoing experiences.
Overall, 75% of participants participated in the study for at least 18 months. Participants received small payments for their participation and completion of weekly surveys. Study authors excluded women who did not have sex with male partners, as well as women whose relationships ended before the follow-up surveys began, making the final analyzed sample 895 women.
Results showed that 80% of participants’ relationships ended during the study period. 41% of relationships included fighting (but without intimate partner violence), and 28% of relationships included intimate partner violence. 52% of participants experienced intimate partner violence.
Participating women reported engaging in non-consensual non-monogamy (cheating) in 5% of relationships, while they reported their partner doing this in 7% of relationships. They reported engaging in ambiguous-consent non-monogamy in 9% of relationships, while reporting this for their partner in 16% of relationships.
They reported having sex during 42% of weeks in which they had a partner. On average, relationships lasted 9 months and 85% of them did not include pregnancies or births. 6% included a pregnancy that did not lead to a birth, and 8% of these relationships resulted in a child. Partners were, on average, 2 years older than respondents.
Participants were more likely to experience violence from their partner in the weeks when their partner was having another sexual partner, both in situations where this represented ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and when it was non-consensual non-monogamy (i.e., when the partner was cheating). Relationships were more likely to dissolve after both types of non-monogamy and after intimate partner violence.
The authors framed these findings using expectancy violations theory, which is the idea that people have strict standards for how their partners should behave, and breaking those rules triggers a severe reassessment of the relationship.
“Findings, interpreted through expectancy violations theory, suggest NCNM [non-consensual non-monogamy i.e., cheating on a partner in a monogamous relationship] and ACNM [ambiguous consent non-monogamy i.e., having additional sexual partners without an explicit agreement] function as powerful relational breaches, while physical IPV [intimate partner violence] (assault) may operate differently from chronic psychological IPV in predicting dissolution,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of romantic relationships. However, although the study collected data on participants’ own non-monogamous behavior, the authors did not report the associations between these types of participants’ behavior and intimate partner violence. Therefore, it remains unreported whether participating women’s own non-monogamous behaviors were associated with intimate partner violence, or how often participants’ and their partners’ non-monogamous behaviors co-occurred. Additionally, the paper did not measure participant-perpetrated intimate partner violence in the same way it measured violence perpetrated by their partners, making the asymmetry starker.
The paper, “Intimate Partner Violence, Ambiguous and Non-Consensual Non-Monogamy, and Breaking Up During Young Adulthood,” was authored by Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #IntimatePartnerViolence #NonMonogamy #CheatingImpact #RelationshipDissolution #YoungAdultsRelationships #IPVAwareness #MonogamyExpectations #RelationshipDynamics #StaySafeInRelationships #GenderViolenceResearch
-
DATE: August 21, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women face higher risks of partner violence during the weeks their partners cheat
An analysis of the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study data found that women were more likely to experience violence from their intimate partners at the time the partner was having another sexual partner. This was the case both in situations where the couple did not have an explicit agreement about monogamy and when they had an agreement to be monogamous (that the partner broke). The probability that the relationship will be dissolved was higher after these events. The paper was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Intimate relationships are an important part of adolescence and early adulthood. They help young people develop skills that can shape their relationships later in life. Yet young relationships do not always provide positive experiences. Conflict, controlling behavior, violence, and infidelity can all occur during this period. Therefore, learning to end an unhealthy relationship may be just as important a developmental task as learning how to form and maintain one.
People generally decide whether to remain with a partner by weighing what they gain from the relationship against its emotional and practical costs. Negative experiences can increase those costs, reduce relationship satisfaction, and make being single or finding another partner seem more attractive.
However, not every harmful experience has the same meaning or the same likelihood of bringing a relationship to an end. Physical aggression, psychological abuse, threats, and controlling behavior can overlap, making it difficult to separate their individual effects on a relationship. Infidelity can be particularly destabilizing because it represents a clear violation of an explicit expectation of monogamy and introduces another person into the relationship.
Study authors Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki examined how intimate partner violence and non-monogamy (having more than one partner at the same time) co-occur and shape the probability of relationship dissolution. They differentiate between two types of non-monogamy – ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and non-consensual non-monogamy.
Ambiguous-consent non-monogamy is a situation where a person has concurrent sexual partners without an explicit agreement about monogamy or non-monogamy. Non-consensual non-monogamy represents a situation where a person has additional sexual partners while in a committed monogamous relationship (this is also called cheating). Study authors expected that intimate partner violence and these two types of non-monogamy will tend to co-occur in relationships and that they increase the probability of subsequent relationship dissolution.
They analyzed data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study. This study involved 1003 young women who were 18-19 years old at the start of the study, drawn from a diverse Michigan county. 992 of them agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study. The study followed these women for 2.5 years, to 20-22.5 years of age. It was focused on young pregnancies. Participants were sampled randomly using a database of all driver’s license holders and personal ID card holders for that county. 84% of women selected for participation in this way agreed to participate.
The study began with a 60-minute face-to-face baseline survey focused on respondent’s current intimate relationship, attitudes, and experiences related to intimate relationships and pregnancy. This was followed (for participants who agreed to participate in the longitudinal part of the study) by brief weekly online or telephone surveys to assess ongoing experiences.
Overall, 75% of participants participated in the study for at least 18 months. Participants received small payments for their participation and completion of weekly surveys. Study authors excluded women who did not have sex with male partners, as well as women whose relationships ended before the follow-up surveys began, making the final analyzed sample 895 women.
Results showed that 80% of participants’ relationships ended during the study period. 41% of relationships included fighting (but without intimate partner violence), and 28% of relationships included intimate partner violence. 52% of participants experienced intimate partner violence.
Participating women reported engaging in non-consensual non-monogamy (cheating) in 5% of relationships, while they reported their partner doing this in 7% of relationships. They reported engaging in ambiguous-consent non-monogamy in 9% of relationships, while reporting this for their partner in 16% of relationships.
They reported having sex during 42% of weeks in which they had a partner. On average, relationships lasted 9 months and 85% of them did not include pregnancies or births. 6% included a pregnancy that did not lead to a birth, and 8% of these relationships resulted in a child. Partners were, on average, 2 years older than respondents.
Participants were more likely to experience violence from their partner in the weeks when their partner was having another sexual partner, both in situations where this represented ambiguous-consent non-monogamy and when it was non-consensual non-monogamy (i.e., when the partner was cheating). Relationships were more likely to dissolve after both types of non-monogamy and after intimate partner violence.
The authors framed these findings using expectancy violations theory, which is the idea that people have strict standards for how their partners should behave, and breaking those rules triggers a severe reassessment of the relationship.
“Findings, interpreted through expectancy violations theory, suggest NCNM [non-consensual non-monogamy i.e., cheating on a partner in a monogamous relationship] and ACNM [ambiguous consent non-monogamy i.e., having additional sexual partners without an explicit agreement] function as powerful relational breaches, while physical IPV [intimate partner violence] (assault) may operate differently from chronic psychological IPV in predicting dissolution,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of romantic relationships. However, although the study collected data on participants’ own non-monogamous behavior, the authors did not report the associations between these types of participants’ behavior and intimate partner violence. Therefore, it remains unreported whether participating women’s own non-monogamous behaviors were associated with intimate partner violence, or how often participants’ and their partners’ non-monogamous behaviors co-occurred. Additionally, the paper did not measure participant-perpetrated intimate partner violence in the same way it measured violence perpetrated by their partners, making the asymmetry starker.
The paper, “Intimate Partner Violence, Ambiguous and Non-Consensual Non-Monogamy, and Breaking Up During Young Adulthood,” was authored by Jennifer S. Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #IntimatePartnerViolence #NonMonogamy #CheatingImpact #RelationshipDissolution #YoungAdultsRelationships #IPVAwareness #MonogamyExpectations #RelationshipDynamics #StaySafeInRelationships #GenderViolenceResearch
-
« Traumagiques » Cultiver l’extase, transformer son monde
Comment favoriser des expériences positives transformatrices dans la sexualité ?Mémoire de fin d'étude en sexologie - École de psycho-
https://maour.eu/2026/07/30/traumagiques-cultiver-lextase-transformer-son-monde/
#ConfrencesRflexions #volution
#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre -
« Traumagiques » Cultiver l’extase, transformer son monde
Comment favoriser des expériences positives transformatrices dans la sexualité ?Mémoire de fin d'étude en sexologie - École de psycho-
https://maour.eu/2026/07/30/traumagiques-cultiver-lextase-transformer-son-monde/
#ConfrencesRflexions #volution
#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre -
« Traumagiques » Cultiver l’extase, transformer son monde
Comment favoriser des expériences positives transformatrices dans la sexualité ?Mémoire de fin d'étude en sexologie - École de psycho-
https://maour.eu/2026/07/30/traumagiques-cultiver-lextase-transformer-son-monde/
#ConfrencesRflexions #volution
#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre -
« Traumagiques » Cultiver l’extase, transformer son monde
Comment favoriser des expériences positives transformatrices dans la sexualité ?Mémoire de fin d'étude en sexologie - École de psycho-
https://maour.eu/2026/07/30/traumagiques-cultiver-lextase-transformer-son-monde/
#ConfrencesRflexions #volution
#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre -
« Traumagiques » Cultiver l’extase, transformer son monde
Comment favoriser des expériences positives transformatrices dans la sexualité ?Mémoire de fin d'étude en sexologie - École de psycho-
https://maour.eu/2026/07/30/traumagiques-cultiver-lextase-transformer-son-monde/
#ConfrencesRflexions #volution
#bd #bandedessinee #comic #shortstory #illustration #drawing #dessin #art #digital #polyamour #polyamorous #polya #enm #nonmonogamy #amour #relation #education #chat #cats #genre -
#introduction time!
Hi, I'm Bea. I seem to be leading a highly squiggly life that's led me through a wild range of experiences, has, at this point been going on for Some Time, and fortunately shows no signs of stopping yet.
Currently, amongst other things, I'm a #coder, a #boater, a #music obsessive, and a #cat mama, plus I #parent a non-zero irrational number of other humans of various ages in this, my sandwich era.
I've also been a #soundEngineer, a #teacher, a professional #psychic, a #theatre technician, and so on. I'm a #Londoner, a lapsed #Glaswegian and a recovering #NewYorker.
I'd list more specifics, but honestly they change all the time; two of the rare constants in my life are #singing and #bass, though I'm increasingly surrounded by a constellation of strange instruments; physical and digital, musical and nautical.
I'm also a #vegan (for the animals) #trans shapeshifter practising #nonMonogamy, and am gay for girls of most genders and apparently now the occasional boy. If this feels like rubbing it in your face, feel free to move your face.
I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, but only compared to your average late capitalist human, and the kind of highly spicy brain you'd expect from, uh, well, all of the above.
I'm afraid things are likely only going to get weirder from here.
No TERFs, no SWERFs, no cops, no Tories (or any other forms of fascism).
Warning! contains multitudes!
-
#introduction time!
Hi, I'm Bea. I seem to be leading a highly squiggly life that's led me through a wild range of experiences, has, at this point been going on for Some Time, and fortunately shows no signs of stopping yet.
Currently, amongst other things, I'm a #coder, a #boater, a #music obsessive, and a #cat mama, plus I #parent a non-zero irrational number of other humans of various ages in this, my sandwich era.
I've also been a #soundEngineer, a #teacher, a professional #psychic, a #theatre technician, and so on. I'm a #Londoner, a lapsed #Glaswegian and a recovering #NewYorker.
I'd list more specifics, but honestly they change all the time; two of the rare constants in my life are #singing and #bass, though I'm increasingly surrounded by a constellation of strange instruments; physical and digital, musical and nautical.
I'm also a #vegan (for the animals) #trans shapeshifter practising #nonMonogamy, and am gay for girls of most genders and apparently now the occasional boy. If this feels like rubbing it in your face, feel free to move your face.
I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, but only compared to your average late capitalist human, and the kind of highly spicy brain you'd expect from, uh, well, all of the above.
I'm afraid things are likely only going to get weirder from here.
No TERFs, no SWERFs, no cops, no Tories (or any other forms of fascism).
Warning! contains multitudes!
-
#introduction time!
Hi, I'm Bea. I seem to be leading a highly squiggly life that's led me through a wild range of experiences, has, at this point been going on for Some Time, and fortunately shows no signs of stopping yet.
Currently, amongst other things, I'm a #coder, a #boater, a #music obsessive, and a #cat mama, plus I #parent a non-zero irrational number of other humans of various ages in this, my sandwich era.
I've also been a #soundEngineer, a #teacher, a professional #psychic, a #theatre technician, and so on. I'm a #Londoner, a lapsed #Glaswegian and a recovering #NewYorker.
I'd list more specifics, but honestly they change all the time; two of the rare constants in my life are #singing and #bass, though I'm increasingly surrounded by a constellation of strange instruments; physical and digital, musical and nautical.
I'm also a #vegan (for the animals) #trans shapeshifter practising #nonMonogamy, and am gay for girls of most genders and apparently now the occasional boy. If this feels like rubbing it in your face, feel free to move your face.
I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, but only compared to your average late capitalist human, and the kind of highly spicy brain you'd expect from, uh, well, all of the above.
I'm afraid things are likely only going to get weirder from here.
No TERFs, no SWERFs, no cops, no Tories (or any other forms of fascism).
Warning! contains multitudes!
-
#introduction time!
Hi, I'm Bea. I seem to be leading a highly squiggly life that's led me through a wild range of experiences, has, at this point been going on for Some Time, and fortunately shows no signs of stopping yet.
Currently, amongst other things, I'm a #coder, a #boater, a #music obsessive, and a #cat mama, plus I #parent a non-zero irrational number of other humans of various ages in this, my sandwich era.
I've also been a #soundEngineer, a #teacher, a professional #psychic, a #theatre technician, and so on. I'm a #Londoner, a lapsed #Glaswegian and a recovering #NewYorker.
I'd list more specifics, but honestly they change all the time; two of the rare constants in my life are #singing and #bass, though I'm increasingly surrounded by a constellation of strange instruments; physical and digital, musical and nautical.
I'm also a #vegan (for the animals) #trans shapeshifter practising #nonMonogamy, and am gay for girls of most genders and apparently now the occasional boy. If this feels like rubbing it in your face, feel free to move your face.
I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, but only compared to your average late capitalist human, and the kind of highly spicy brain you'd expect from, uh, well, all of the above.
I'm afraid things are likely only going to get weirder from here.
No TERFs, no SWERFs, no cops, no Tories (or any other forms of fascism).
Warning! contains multitudes!
-
#introduction time!
Hi, I'm Bea. I seem to be leading a highly squiggly life that's led me through a wild range of experiences, has, at this point been going on for Some Time, and fortunately shows no signs of stopping yet.
Currently, amongst other things, I'm a #coder, a #boater, a #music obsessive, and a #cat mama, plus I #parent a non-zero irrational number of other humans of various ages in this, my sandwich era.
I've also been a #soundEngineer, a #teacher, a professional #psychic, a #theatre technician, and so on. I'm a #Londoner, a lapsed #Glaswegian and a recovering #NewYorker.
I'd list more specifics, but honestly they change all the time; two of the rare constants in my life are #singing and #bass, though I'm increasingly surrounded by a constellation of strange instruments; physical and digital, musical and nautical.
I'm also a #vegan (for the animals) #trans shapeshifter practising #nonMonogamy, and am gay for girls of most genders and apparently now the occasional boy. If this feels like rubbing it in your face, feel free to move your face.
I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, but only compared to your average late capitalist human, and the kind of highly spicy brain you'd expect from, uh, well, all of the above.
I'm afraid things are likely only going to get weirder from here.
No TERFs, no SWERFs, no cops, no Tories (or any other forms of fascism).
Warning! contains multitudes!
-
Happy Day of Visibility for Nonmonogamy!
🩵🩷🤍🔻 -
Happy Day of Visibility for Nonmonogamy!
🩵🩷🤍🔻 -
Happy Day of Visibility for Nonmonogamy!
🩵🩷🤍🔻 -
Happy Day of Visibility for Nonmonogamy!
🩵🩷🤍🔻 -
Happy Day of Visibility for Nonmonogamy!
🩵🩷🤍🔻 -
Understanding Tolyamory: A Common Non-Monogamous Relationship Dynamic
📰 Original title: You May Be In A 'Tolyamorous’ Relationship Without Ever Having Discussed It
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/understanding-tolyamory-a-common-non-monogamous-relationship-dynamic.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
-
Understanding Tolyamory: A Common Non-Monogamous Relationship Dynamic
📰 Original title: You May Be In A 'Tolyamorous’ Relationship Without Ever Having Discussed It
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/understanding-tolyamory-a-common-non-monogamous-relationship-dynamic.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
-
Understanding Tolyamory: A Common Non-Monogamous Relationship Dynamic
📰 Original title: You May Be In A 'Tolyamorous’ Relationship Without Ever Having Discussed It
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/understanding-tolyamory-a-common-non-monogamous-relationship-dynamic.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
-
This class will primarily address attending kink conventions from registration and hotel booking to the aftermath of con drop and recovery, for every situation from the solo kinkster to the polysaturated and attending with polycules.
-
This class will primarily address attending kink conventions from registration and hotel booking to the aftermath of con drop and recovery, for every situation from the solo kinkster to the polysaturated and attending with polycules.
-
This class will primarily address attending kink conventions from registration and hotel booking to the aftermath of con drop and recovery, for every situation from the solo kinkster to the polysaturated and attending with polycules.
-
This class will primarily address attending kink conventions from registration and hotel booking to the aftermath of con drop and recovery, for every situation from the solo kinkster to the polysaturated and attending with polycules.
-
This class will primarily address attending kink conventions from registration and hotel booking to the aftermath of con drop and recovery, for every situation from the solo kinkster to the polysaturated and attending with polycules.
-
Partners, polyamory, power exchange, all things people-y…these all add layers of complexity to our event navigation. We think prior planning and communication are the main tools needed to ensure success. Can you think of others?
-
Partners, polyamory, power exchange, all things people-y…these all add layers of complexity to our event navigation. We think prior planning and communication are the main tools needed to ensure success. Can you think of others?
-
Partners, polyamory, power exchange, all things people-y…these all add layers of complexity to our event navigation. We think prior planning and communication are the main tools needed to ensure success. Can you think of others?
-
Partners, polyamory, power exchange, all things people-y…these all add layers of complexity to our event navigation. We think prior planning and communication are the main tools needed to ensure success. Can you think of others?
-
from @_glassmuseum on insta
#monogamy #mononormativity #nonmonogamy #relationshipanarchy -
It seems like we're starting the Big Crying All Day part of Greg's visit a little earlier this year.
What fun.
#dating #relationship #LongDistance #LongDistanceRelationship #NonMonogamy #Australia #UK
