Differences and Similarities in Sexual Attitudes, Opinions, and Sociosexual Orientation Based on Relationship Orientation

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) has become increasingly visible in public and academic discourse. CNM is an umbrella term for relationship orientations that differ based on the degree to which consensual sexual and emotional needs are fulfilled outside of a dyad. Despite the diversity of CNM relationship orientations and the growing research examining CNM, it is unclear whether the sexual attitudes, inclination to approach or avoid sexual stimuli (i.e., erotophobia-erotophilia), and sociosexuality of individuals differ among individuals who identify with distinct CNM relationship. Further, as the agreements made in CNM relationships permit for extradyadic relationships, important differences might emerge for those who identify as CNM compared to monogamous individuals. A convenience sample (N = 641) of individuals who self-identified as monogamous (n = 447), open (n = 80), polyamorous (n = 62), or swinger (n = 52) provided ratings of their sexual attitudes, erotophobia-erotophilia, and sociosexuality. Results indicated that swingers had the most permissive and instrumental sexual attitudes, were the most erotophilic, and were the most unrestricted sexually. Conversely, monogamists scored the lowest on these traits. No differences emerged between relationship orientations for attitudes towards communion and birth control. These findings have important implications for sexuality research because they reinforce the view that some underlying differences and similarities exist between monogamous and CNM individuals.

在公共及学术话语中，共识非一夫一妻制（CNM）逐渐显现出其日益显著的特性。CNM作为一个统称，涵盖了基于在二元关系之外，双方在性及情感需求满足程度上的差异而形成的不同关系取向。尽管CNM关系取向的多样性日益增多，相关研究也在不断增长，但对于那些认同不同CNM关系取向的个人在性态度、接近或回避性刺激的倾向（即恐色-嗜色），以及社会性倾向上是否存在差异，尚无明确结论。此外，由于CNM关系中约定的外遇行为，与一夫一妻制个体相比，认同为CNM的个人可能存在重要差异。本次研究采用便利抽样方法（样本量N = 641），收集了自认为一夫一妻制（n = 447）、开放关系（n = 80）、多角恋（n = 62）或交换伴侣（n = 52）的个体对自身性态度、恐色-嗜色和社会性倾向的评估。研究结果指出，交换伴侣群体在性态度上最为宽容且实用，在嗜色倾向上最为强烈，在性自由度上也最为宽松。相反，一夫一妻制者在这些特质上的得分最低。在关系取向与对亲密关系和避孕态度之间，未发现显著差异。这些发现对性学研究具有重要意义，因为它们进一步证实了在传统一夫一妻制与CNM个体之间，既存在某些潜在的差异，也存在相似之处。