Polyamory: Debunking Myths About Sexual Health
A team of international researchers found that having multiple romantic or sexual relationships does not diminish the quality of intimate life or satisfaction levels. Comparisons between monogamous and polyamorous couples showed that the well-being of the latter is on par, and in some aspects, even exceeds that of monogamous couples.
Researchers from the University of Turku (Finland) examined the popular belief that monogamy is physiologically and psychologically safer than alternative forms of relationships. They conducted two studies, distinguishing between open non-monogamy and secret infidelity. The results were published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
In the first study, data from 888 adults from the USA, Portugal, Italy, and Finland were analyzed. Participants completed questionnaires measuring sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction, and described their history of STIs.
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According to the analysis, women in non-monogamous relationships experienced stronger desire and arousal with secondary partners than with their primary partner. Moreover, their level of attraction and satisfaction with these 'additional' partners was higher than that of monogamous women with their sole partner. At the same time, polyamorous individuals were tested for STIs 3.6 times more often than monogamous respondents, but the actual infection rates did not differ between the groups.
The second study involved a sample of 10,503 residents of Finland. To eliminate bias, researchers balanced the groups by age, gender, and sociosexual orientation.
It was found that polyamorous women had a higher overall sexual attraction, while men in non-monogamous relationships exhibited fewer symptoms of premature ejaculation. Secret infidelity also showed no direct link to deterioration in physiological health, except for decreased satisfaction among men who concealed emotional attachments.
The authors emphasized that the findings do not justify infidelity or negate the ethical issues of unfaithfulness, but rather highlight the absence of direct harm to sexual function. The study relied on self-reports, which leaves room for subjective distortions and requires further confirmation with medical data.
