Open Relationships, Nonconsensual Nonmonogamy, and Monogamy Among U.S. Adults: Findings from the 2012 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior

Abstract

People in open and other consensually nonmonogamous partnerships have been historically underserved by researchers and providers. Many studies group such partnerships together with nonconsensual nonmonogamy (NCNM) under the banner of “concurrent sexual partnerships.” Discrimination from service providers poses a substantial barrier to care. Responding to such concerns, this investigation explored sociodemographic correlates with open relationships and associations between relationship structure and sexual risk, HIV/STI testing, and relationship satisfaction in a nationally representative probability sample. Data were drawn from the 2012 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (n = 2270). We used multinomial logistic regression to identify correlates with relationship structure, and linear and logistic regression to investigate associations between relationship structure and testing, condom use, and relationship satisfaction. Eighty-nine percent of participants reported monogamy, 4% reported open relationships, and 8% reported NCNM. Males, gay/lesbian individuals, bisexual individuals, and those who identified as “Other, Non-Hispanic” were more likely to report open relationships. Bisexual individuals and Black, Non-Hispanic participants were more likely to report NCNM; older participants were less likely to do so. Participants in open relationships reported more frequent condom use for anal intercourse and lower relationship satisfaction than monogamous participants. NCNM participants reported more HIV testing and lower satisfaction. Identities, experiences, and behaviors within open and other consensually nonmonogamous populations should be regarded as unique and diverse, rather than conflated with those common to other relationship structures. There is a need for greater awareness of diverse relationship structures among researchers and providers, and incorporation of related content into educational programming.

A Decade Review of Sex and Partnering in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

“…A few recent studies have allowed for scholars to take a closer look at the prevalence rates of CNM among those in young adulthood to early middle‐adulthood. For example, in a large study drawing from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior ( N = 2,270; Levine, Herbenick, Martinez, Fu, & Dodge, ), among those ages 18 to 34 ( n = 669), 3.9% reported being in an “open relationship.” This is similar to the prevalence rate reported by Conley, Moors, et al () and Rubin et al (). Another study combined data from two previous studies to examine the demographic characteristics of those who engage in CNM relationships.…”

A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review: Infidelity, Romantic Jealousy and Intimate Partner Violence against Women

“…female-to-male IPV and IPV in same sex relationships because of ubiquitous patriarchal norms that create unequal power dynamics within the couple [ 26 ]. Some evidence also suggests that women perpetrators of IPV may be more motivated by retaliation, while men may be more motivated by control [ 43 ], and that same-sex relationships are more likely to be consensually non-monogamous [ 44 ].…”

Life History and Multi-Partner Mating: A Novel Explanation for Moral Stigma Against Consensual Non-monogamy

“…Those who benefit from maintaining stable, cohesive groups may favor monogamy and condemn CNM to the extent that multi-partner mating can produce transient relationships, social conflict, and disease transmission; although, as noted, these traits do not necessarily describe individuals in modern CNM relationships. Given existing evidence that CNM relationships are not shortlived (Mogilski et al, 2017;Séguin et al, 2017), can improve relationship satisfaction and functioning (Rodrigues et al, 2016;Levine et al, 2018;Stults, 2018;Fairbrother et al, 2019), and are no more likely to involve unsafe sexual practices than monogamous relationships (Conley et al, 2012(Conley et al, , 2013bLehmiller, 2015), we suspect that moral stigma toward CNM originates from an increasingly defunct intuitive association between sexually promiscuous mating and interpersonally deleterious fast life history traits (Moon et al, 2018). This mismatch (Li et al, 2018) may be driven by modern CNM ethical practices which reduce sources of interpersonal conflict within multi-partner mating systems (e.g., intrasexual competition, jealous anxiety, partner abandonment, child neglect, and disease transmission).…”

“…By reducing the social anxiety that accompanies multipartner competition, individuals within CNM relationships may experience relationship and health outcomes on par with (or better than) those who pursue monogamy. Those within multi-partner relationships that include ethical treatment of and consent among partners typically experience more positive relationship and health outcomes than those who pursue non-consensual non-monogamy (i.e., adultery; Levine et al, 2018). Compared to those in monogamous relationships, CNM individuals report experiencing less emotional jealousy (Mogilski et al, 2019), and spend less time actively trying to retain their mate (Mogilski et al, 2017(Mogilski et al, , 2019, which may alleviate conflict in relationships where one or both partners desire extradyadic intimacy.…”

“…Individuals within CNM relationships report unique benefits from forming multiple intimate relationships (see Moors et al, 2017), including diversified need fulfillment (Mitchell et al, 2014;Muise et al, 2019), more frequent social opportunities (Moors et al, 2017), and more fluid sexual expression (Manley et al, 2015). These benefits are associated with relatively greater relationship satisfaction (Rubel and Bogaert, 2015;Levine et al, 2018), particularly when an individual's personality is matched to their relationship structure (e.g., when someone with a more unrestricted sociosexuality pursues CNM; Rodrigues et al, 2017Rodrigues et al, , 2019. Therefore, it seems that either monogamy or CNM can improve social relations, romantic satisfaction, and mental health when the option to pursue diverse romantic and sexual strategies allows someone to find and fill their niche.…”