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AbstractIn this paper, we argue that the attempts to centre education in one of its three constitutive aspects that have long determined the discourse on the purpose and aims of education run the risk of one-sidedness. Theories of student-centred education have been in vogue for many centuries now, having been born out of a polemic against teacher-centred education which focuses on knowledge transfer. In turn, recent thing-centred or world-centred accounts of education polemicize against student-centred accounts and their privileging of individual learning processes. However, each side of this multifaceted polemic is one-sided in its own way, and this has held back not only theories of education, but also educational practice. We argue that educational theorising that is not attentive to all three aspects and dimensions of educational practices – teacher, student, and world – will ultimately lead to a poorer understanding of the purpose and aims of education. Here, we argue with Hannah Arendt that educational love must be polyamorous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies have remarked upon the increase in representation of kinksters and BDSM practices in mainstream media narratives, community voices indicate that these narratives do not provide an authentic portrayal of their community. This misrepresentation of kinksters results in stigmatization and forces the community to manage its minority stress. This article reflects upon the results from a series of interviews with Dutch poly-kink-identified participants about mainstream representations of their community. The participants agree on several main objections to this representation: mainstream media narratives ignore community norms, while they actively sensationalize and pathologize kink, and insist on stereotypical gender relations. Together, this representation undermines the transgressive potential of poly-kink relations and increases the stigmatization of this community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamory is a relationship style that allows individuals to develop multiple romantic relationships simultaneously. Although studies show that many polyamorous people have children, very little is known about the experiences of children growing up in such a family context. Based on 18 semi-structured interviews with Canadian children living with polyamorous parents, we examined the level of emotional closeness they felt towards their parents' romantic partners, and what these adults meant to them. We found that these children generally appreciated their parents' partners. These adults were seen by our participants as someone who contributed positively to their lives. More specifically, the participating children —especially pre-teens and younger children— described their parents' romantic partners as adults: 1) to have fun with, 2) who contributed to their material well-being, 3) who took care of them, and 4) who, through their own children, contributed to expanding their circle of friends. Finally, some children — mainly teenagers and pre-teens— talked about these adults primarily as people who contributed positively to their parents' lives. Overall, this study makes an important contribution to the literature on family diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have recently focused on personality traits associated with consensual non-monogamy (CNM). Ambiguity tolerance may be one of such traits, however there is a lack of research in this area. The survey was conducted on a group of 355 participants (188 women, 147 men and 20 persons who reported ‘other gender’) aged 18 to 60 years (M = 29.56, SD = 8.52). At the time of the study, 127 participants had experience in practicing CNM, 87 expressed a desire to practice CNM, and 141 did not desire to form a CNM relationship. The MSTAT-II was used to measure ambiguity tolerance. The current findings suggest that individuals with experience in CNM and those who desire to engage in CNM are less stressed by ambiguous (i.e. new, complex and unfamiliar) situations. Individuals with experience in open relationships and swinging are more comfortable with ambiguous situations compared to those with experience in polyamory. However, individuals with a desire to get involved in open relationships and swinging are less comfortable with ambiguous situations compared to those with a desire to get involved in polyamory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research explored consensually non-monogamous peoples' experiences accessing sexual healthcare. Using a mixed method approach, a sample of 67 consensually non-monogamous individuals (48% Polyamorous; 42% Relationship Anarchy/Solo polyamory; 6% Swingers; 4% Uncategorized) reported having significantly lower rates of trust in healthcare professionals compared to standardized scores. Sixty-three percent of participants reported disclosing their relationship status to a clinician when accessing sexual health services, whereas 37% sometimes or never disclosed. Qualitative responses identified that some participants reported a willingness to be open about their relationships, but many chose to "pass" as monogamous to both simplify and streamline their interactions as well as to avoid potential stigma. Participants reported a wide range of experiences with clinicians from those who were accepting and professional, to some who displayed prejudice and withheld treatment. This research outlines some of the experiences and challenges presented to consensual non-monogamists when accessing sexual healthcare as well as providing suggestions for clinicians to help remove some of the barriers to appropriate patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional concepts of sexuality and intimacy contain normative assumptions that limit the fluidity and creativity with which individuals' relational, gender, and affectional identities can be expressed. This theoretical article applies the seven axioms of Hammack et al.'s paradigm of queer intimacy to a case study of a client who identifies as queer, kinky, poly, transmasculine, and neurodivergent. The resulting conceptualization illustrates ways in which kink and bondage/domination and sadomasochism can contribute to identity development, congruence, and self-actualization. Implications for counseling are provided along with humanistic themes found within the case study. Humanistic counselors can connect more authentically with queer, kinky, polyamorous clients by acknowledging the diversities of clients' identities and behaviors and increasing counselor competencies related to queer, kink, and poly cultures and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On April 4, 2018, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Robert Fowler issued a landmark decision in C.C. (Re) [2018] NLSC 71 Carswell Nfld 110 making three adults—in a polyamorous relationship with one another—the legal parents to their young daughter. This was a significant decision in Canada, since Newfoundland and Labrador was the first jurisdiction to grant legal parental status to adults in a polyamorous relationship. In 2021, British Columbia's Supreme Court made a similar decision in British Columbia Birth Registration No. 2018-XX-XX5815, 2021 BCSC 767. While these cases seem progressive, proponents of the legal and social expansion of parentage should remain cautious. The decisions' potential for changing the landscape of family law and social perceptions of non-dyadic parenting are stymied by the persistence of privatised sex and gender norms and racialised constructions of sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Literatura y Lingüística is the property of Universidad Catolica Cardenal Raul Silva Henriquez and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores the theory and practice of non-monogamy at the turn of the twentieth century across a range of texts, including anarchist periodicals, mainstream newspapers, and literary fiction. Moving from utopian to ambivalent representations of multipartner relationships, it turns to a canonical novel to explore a perspective we might call poly pessimism, which not only critiques monogamy but exposes the systems that make non-monogamous alternatives equally unlivable. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome (1911) offers a blistering naturalist account of the constraints of monogamous marriage as the organizing institution of care work under capitalism, but the monstrous menáge à trois revealed at the novel's end suggests only the multiplication of domestic duty and the expansion of marriage and the private home rather than their abolition. Both in its sexual utopianism and its calls for the practical reconfiguration of home life and the economies of care, critical non-monogamy at the turn of the twentieth century holds an important position in a tradition of radical thought that connects antebellum socialisms to more recent liberation agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article explores the relationship between romantic love and polyamory. Our central question is whether traditional norms of monogamy can be excised from romantic love so as to harmonize with polyamory's ethical dimensions (as we construe them). How one answers this question bears on another: whether ‘polyamory’ should principally be understood in terms of romantic love or instead some alternative conception(s). Our efforts to address these questions begin by briefly motivating our favored approach to romantic love, a ‘narratival’ one inspired by 1930s cultural theorist Denis de Rougemont, wherein such love is exclusive, supernatural or promising transcendence, painful, impeded, and, ultimately, fatal. We maintain that, even once exclusivity is removed as an official component, tensions with polyamory's ethical dimensions remain: romantic love's other elements rationalize acting and feeling in ways that privilege a singular beloved above others. A tempting solution is to further revise romantic love. However, we are skeptical that this leaves space for distinctively romantic love. Our tentative proposal, then, is that polyamory's ethical dimensions favor rejecting romantic love as ultimately desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An online survey was completed by a convenience sample of 495 students to assess attitude toward polyamorous targets as an outgroup using 0–100 feeling thermometers. Also assessed was the likelihood of dating a polyamorous partner. These two measures were only weakly related for women participants but modestly related for men participants. Overall, feeling thermometer averages were favorable (66%) but dating likelihood was very low, with 89% rating dating a polyamorous partner as unlikely. Women were slightly more favorable toward polyamorous targets than were men but target gender showed no effect (i.e., ratings of polyamorous men were the same as those of polyamorous women). However, men were slightly more willing to date a polyamorous partner than were women. In terms of personality and individual difference variables as predictors of attitudes, authoritarianism, erotophobia–erotophilia, and participant sexual orientation accounted for a quarter of the variance in feeling thermometer ratings of polyamorous targets. Specifically, those who had lower authoritarianism, were more comfortable with sexuality, and were sexual minority in orientation were likely to rate the polyamorous targets the most favorably. Individual difference variables did not predict willingness to date a polyamorous partner consistently across gender and sexual orientation participant subgroups; the most consistent predictors were sociosexuality and erotophobia–erotophilia. This study adds to our knowledge in a nascent area of sexual attitude and discrimination research—it demonstrates the differences between rating an outgroup person and attitude toward engaging with them personally. The latter appears to involve more complexity in terms of the relationship with personality and the type of social perceiver. More research is needed into the differentiation between general ratings of others who engage in non-mainstream, stigmatized sexual practices versus when the ratings involve personal involvement or behavior of the social perceiver (i.e., such as dating). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the potential discrimination faced by individuals in polyamorous relationships, understanding attitudes toward polyamory in society is crucial. To this end, instruments to measure attitudes toward polyamory with adequate psychometric properties are necessary. The aim of this study was to adapt the Attitudes Toward Polyamory Scale (ATP) to the Spanish context and analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of young adults. The sample comprised 1,162 individuals aged 18 to 35 years. Participants responded to sociodemographic questions and completed the Revised Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) and the ATP. The findings indicate: (1) adequate reliability coefficients, (2) good fit statistics for the one-factor confirmatory model that verify results of exploratory factor analysis, (3) that homosexual and bisexual people have more favorable attitudes toward polyamory than heterosexual, (4) positive correlations between ATP scores, SOS scores, and political orientation (individuals with higher levels of erotophilia and a more left-leaning political orientation tend to hold more favorable attitudes toward polyamory), and (5) association between ATP scores and religion, with non-religious individuals showing more favorable attitudes toward polyamory than Catholics. In conclusion, the ATP demonstrates adequate psychometric properties in Spanish young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung is the property of Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Recent research shows an increase in polyamory and acceptance of polyamorous relationships. However, there is still limited research on broader attitudes toward monogamy and polyamory, particularly regarding legal rights and with a national sample. This study examines the impact of cohort, sexual orientation, and contact with polyamorists on attitudes toward monogamy and polyamorous legal rights. This research has the potential to bring more attention to polyamorous relationships, disrupt heteronormative views of relationships, and consider legal rights for those in relationships involving more than two people. Methods: We use data from a sample of 2665 adults from the 2021 American Marriage Survey, a national survey focused on attitudes toward marriage post-marriage equality, to consider the relationship between cohort, sexual orientation, contact, and attitudes toward mononormativity and polyamory. Results: Overall, there is support for the idea that monogamy is the norm while people are generally not supportive of granting legal rights for polyamorous relationships. Younger cohorts, LGBQ individuals, and those who know a polyamorous person are less likely to support mononormativity and more likely to support legal rights for polyamorous relationships. Furthermore, contact has a stronger impact on attitudes of Millennials and LGBQ individuals. Conclusion: While mononormativity remains the norm and polyamory is not widely supported, given patterns of greater acceptance among younger cohorts and LGBQ individuals, there is a good possibility that acceptance will increase over time. Policy Implications: This research has the potential to bring more attention to polyamorous relationships, disrupt heteronormative views of relationships, and consider legal rights for those in relationships involving more than two people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamory is a growing practice among many couples and individuals in current US society. Despite the boom in interest over the recent decades through media and pop culture, academic acknowledgement of this lifestyle remains slim. As more polyamorous systems seek counseling for related or non-related reasons it is becoming increasingly important to address a long history of bias and marginalization against these clients by therapists. This discussion aims to address the definitions and prevalence of polyamory and examine therapist competencies in working with polyamorous clients. Future implications for research related to counseling polyamorous clients will be explored. The goal of this article is to introduce and discuss issues surrounding polyamory. More acknowledgement is needed about the practice of polyamory, especially in how these dynamics are addressed in the counseling setting. Guidelines are presented to help improve therapist skills and education for working with polyamorous individuals seeking therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compersion is a positive emotion experienced in relation to one's partner's relationship(s) with other partner(s). Experiencing it is highly desired in communities practicing consensual non-monogamy (CNM), especially polyamory. This article presents the results of a study on compersion on Polish CNM individuals. The main goal of the study was to adapt to the Polish-speaking population the COMPERSe (Classifying Our Metamour/Partner Emotional Response Scale; Flicker et al., 2021), the first standardized quantitative scale designed to measure compersion. The analyses were performed on data obtained from 211 individuals in CNM relationships and on a comparative group of 169 people in monogamous relationships. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses suggested that the three-factor model of the original COMPERSe version did not fit well, leading to further revisions that resulted in a 7-item, two-factor solution with excellent fit, excellent internal consistency, strong divergent and convergent validity, and excellent test–retest stability. The CNM individuals were found to have higher scores on compersion and cognitive empathy and were also less jealous than the monogamous participants. Furthermore, polyamorous individuals experienced more compersion and less aversion to partner's autonomy than people in open relationships. It was also revealed that compersion indirectly predicted relationship satisfaction by decreasing jealousy and that compersion was, in turn, predicted by cognitive empathy. However, when polyamorous and open relationships were analyzed separately, compersion predicted relationship satisfaction directly, but only in polyamorous relationships; meanwhile, in open relationships, satisfaction was directly predicted by cognitive empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbiosexuality, the individual experience of attraction to people in relationships, has not been examined as a lived experience. Lack of recognition and examination of symbiosexuality is surprising when one considers studies of romantic and sexual desires and behaviors associated with more than two people. Also evident in the existence of the sexual identity label known as the unicorn and easily found in essays, memoirs, and dating apps, this attraction proves salient. Further, we find evidence of symbiosexuality outside Western discourses on desire and sexuality. Dominant conceptions and assumptions about sexuality and desire including mononormativity, respectability politics within polyamorous communities, and current conceptions of desire within western discourse contribute to symbiosexual invisibility. This invisibility harms several sexual minority groups, especially women and gender minorities within these groups. The purpose of this review is to describe and provide evidence of the phenomenon of symbiosexuality. Through a queer-feminist lens, I argue that recognition of symbiosexuality will fill a knowledge gap in the field of sexuality studies on the nature and shape of human sexual attractions and may be validating and/or empowering to those experiencing these types of attractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the past two decades have seen an increase in research into both asexuality and polyamory, little is known about their intersection, that is, people who identify as asexual and engage in polyamorous relationships. Using an online survey, we explored the experiences of participants who identify as asexual or on the ace spectrum (e.g., demisexual, gray-asexual) and were in a polyamorous relationship at the time of the survey (N = 321). The majority of our participants identified as White (79.02%), a plurality identified as women (27.1%), and ages ranged from 18 to 53 years old (M = 29.55, SD = 6.77). Two qualitative questions related to motivations for engaging in polyamory were analyzed for this study (N = 224). The first question asked about personal motivations, and the second asked about partner(s)’s influence. Eight codes emerged across the two questions: Needs fulfillment, Exploration/contemplation, Solution to relationship conflict/personal insecurity, a Desire to connect with multiple people, Personal/relationship growth, Rejecting monogamy, Introduced by partner, and Other/no additional context. One additional code was found in Q2: Reluctance/jealousy/distrust. The most common code overall was Exploration/contemplation. Our findings indicate that fulfilling a partner’s sexual needs was not a primary motivating factor for ace individuals engaged in polyamory. Ace individuals were more likely to describe experiences as exploring their identity and fulfilling personal needs for connection and intimacy. These findings indicate that motivations for engaging in polyamory are not solely centered in fulfilling sexual desires, and they may have larger implications for the what the scope of romantic and sexual relationships can look at outside of a monogamous and heteronormative context.

This paper is a review of the recent literature on attitudes toward consensual non-monogamy (CNM). These attitudes are constrained to evaluations of people who practice CNM, CNM relationships, and CNM concepts; willingness to engage in or personal interest in practicing CNM is not included in this review. Relevant published research was located through database searches, as well as by perusing references and citations. Based on over two dozen investigations, it is concluded that average attitudes toward CNM are around neutral, with some slightly negative and some slightly positive. Studies taking a comparative perspective—whereby monogamous couples are pitted against CNM couples—overwhelmingly find more favorable attitudes toward monogamy. This literature supports assertions of the prevalence of monocentrism/compulsory monogamy. Further, some researchers investigated sociodemographic and psychological variables as predictors of CNM attitudes. Considering demographic characteristics, those who identify as monogamous and heterosexual tend to be more negative toward CNM relative to their counterparts, and most of the research suggests there are no gender differences in CNM attitudes. In terms of psychological variables, those reflecting authoritarian ideological values tended to predict CNM attitudes the best. The psychological variables are interpreted within the broader dual-process motivational model of prejudice with attention to authoritarianism and social dominance. To conclude, measurement issues are discussed, existing instruments are critiqued, and recommendations are made for which instruments are appropriate for different research goals. Specifically, the Attitudes towards Polyamory scale is a concise, unidimensional instrument with sound psychometric properties, making it a good general assessment of polyamory or CNM. Created using excellent test construction techniques, the Multidimensional Measurement of Attitudes toward Consensual Non-Monogamy (MACS) is a very promising belief-based CNM attitudes scale with three factors. Finally, directions for future research are discussed with an emphasis on differentiating between beliefs and attitudes as suggested by attitude theory, with most CNM attitude scales conflating the former with the latter.

This article proposes an adaptation of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples to serve nonmonogamous clients. This article also discusses the risks of failing to adapt therapeutic models to consider individuals who practice polyamory and research to date on attachment styles and polyamory. The authors suggest EFT as an efficacious approach to working with polyamorous individuals seeking therapy and provide a case illustration of a three-person polyamorous group, or triad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A number of Black writers have cast Black marriage in a state of emergency – Black folks are not getting (or staying) married like they used to. Yet in seeking to address the Black marriage problem many have left marriage's ‘monogamous‐only’ condition unexamined. In this article, I take a different approach. I draw on a long‐standing prevalence of de facto non‐monogamy among those marked Black and argue that the numerical constraint making marriage between two people violates equal treatment. To make the case, I show how anti‐non‐monogamy attitudes have been racialized in ways that are expressive of anti‐Blackness. In my view, the effects of this racialization include ongoing and disproportionate impacts on an already burdened group – Black polyamorists. A failure to reform the monogamous‐only condition of marriage tacitly endorses anti‐non‐monogamous attitudes of the past where Black intimate relationships were thought inferior and therefore deserving of an inferior social standing. Finally, I look to an account of minimal marriage as a site of possibility for establishing a marriage institution that is more just in relation to equal treatment and a site of repair for racialized non‐monogamists whose historical denial to accessing marriage has had the effect of accumulated social and political disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue explores key issues regarding the parenting practices within polyamorous and consensually non-monogamous intimate relationships. The contributions are concerned with the stigmatization of child-care practices that deviate from the default of couple-based monogamy, exceed biological definitions of kinship and experiment with new forms of spatial organization beyond shared residence. In this introduction, we highlight key themes of previous research, highlight normative pressures and counter-normative contestations around the themes of exclusivity, gendered parenting roles, relational development framed as intimate growth and a pervasive reproductive futurism. Polyamorous parenting practices negotiate a complex social terrain shaped by social and health policies, law, housing development, creating new avenues for parenting roles, and the (re)organization of care work and the division of labour in child-rearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families in the United States are rapidly changing, and the normative familial model of two married, monogamous, heterosexual parents with children no longer reflects the majority of U.S. families. Nonetheless, state incentive-based policies and discriminatory family laws continue to enforce heteronormative monogamy. Recent changes to the U.S. legal landscape have produced limited formal recognition and protections for same-sex couples and LGBTQ parents, and even these narrow rights are withheld from other diverse familial configurations including families with polyamorous parents. This article uses the concept of sexual citizenship to frame the analysis of U.S. family courts' normative construction of family, identifying striking parallels between family courts' historical and contemporary prejudicial treatment of LGBTQ parents and the institution's similar delegitimization and denigration of polyamorous parents today. This paper reviews polyamorous parents' efforts towards achieving legal and societal legitimatization, finding significant parallels with legal strategies LGBTQ parents utilized to seek legal recognition and protection prior to federal recognition of same-sex marriage. This paper highlights the inadequacies of such a formal sexual citizenship approach, finding that a limited strategy of accumulating specific sexual rights fails to address non-monogamy's more radical cultural presence as well as the (non-legal) informal aspects of belonging needed to improve the livability of polyamorous parents' and their children's lives. This paper concludes with recommendations for improving the treatment of non-traditional families including LGBTQ, polyamorous, and other blended families, both within and outside the legal institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romantic love unites a man and woman as a couple. The birth of a child confirms the righteousness of this union and prolongs it into eternity – so the myth goes. Simultaneously, the demand for a well-planed and economically optimized parenthood is increasing. How do (potential) non-monogamous parents deal with these multiple demands? Based on an intersectional multi-level-analysis of 13 interviews, the article describes three gender-specific modes of subjectivation: A strong self-identification with the ideal of the autonomous subject, deconstructing fatherhood while reproducing motherhood and poly-parenthood as a project of social planning. The article shows which narratives of personal development occur empirically in relation to relationship management and parenthood, and how these narratives are either reconciled or weighed against each other. It becomes clear that the idea of polyamory as a means for personal development is widespread and is partly accompanied by an ideal of individual independence of an autonomous subject which does not go well with parenthood. Deconstructing fatherhood while reproducing motherhood turns out to systematically reinforce traditional gendered modes of subjectivation. It also became evident that there is an underlying idea of community development in which children become a part of a comprehensive project of joint self-improvement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of parents that are a part of polyamorous networks—networks of three, four, or even more residential or highly available parents—shows three types of parenting practices: poly-nuclear, hierarchical, and egalitarian parenting. Especially, the hierarchical and egalitarian parenting practices show novel divisions of care work and a transgression of gender norms. However, in-depth new materialist analysis of qualitative interviews also shows how parents are, in specific situations, pushed toward standard family models and thus unintentionally maintain traditional family structures and gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a critical feminist perspective, this article provides an ethnographic account of negotiations of gender relations, parenthood, and family in polyamorous relationships in the Netherlands. A conceptual framework is developed and employed to analyze the queering potentials of polyamory by looking at (1) a difference-oriented self, (2) expansion of political community, (3) deconstructions of gender, (4) enduring and unexpected care, and (5) an awareness of existence with people we do not know. Based on a thick description of everyday negotiations, it is argued that the categories of "gender," "parent," and "family" are mainly stretched and diffused rather than fundamentally disrupted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents in consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships navigated public health directives to social distance and avoid contact between households. Many parents practicing CNM share romantic, sexual, and coparenting relationships across households, and the pandemic introduced challenges and opportunities for innovation in maintaining connection. This qualitative study sought to explore the experiences, challenges, and adaptations of CNM parents, using survey and interview data from 70 US parents collected between May and December 2020. Thematic analysis highlighted that many parents spent less time with non-cohabiting partners and more time with cohabiting partners and children, but also adapted via creative strategies such as incorporating partners into a quarantine pod, inviting partners to move in, or connecting over technology. These data illuminate the diverse ways that CNM parents engaged in and "queered" family and partner relationships during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, a New York civil court concluded that a polyamorous partner should not be automatically excluded from noneviction protection (O'Neill). The decision was hailed as particularly groundbreaking and a 'game changer'. On the other side of the globe, the New Zealand Supreme Court concluded that polyamorous unions could be entitled to the same property-sharing regime as couples. Upon closer examination, the two decisions use function-based modes of recognition to confer similar protections upon the polyamorous union. However, this paper will illustrate some of the limitations inherent in this approach. At present, functional recognition exhibits a continued attachment to the traditional marital family; this aspect, combined with the unique complexity of polyamorous arrangements, renders this route to legal recognition potentially inappropriate. The decisions examined either fail to understand the nature of the arrangement or choose to distort it in order to make polyamory legally intelligible. Both decisions are emblematic of a broader difficulty of functional recognition to provide answers to the legal demands of this type of relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamory and consensual non‐monogamy (CNM) refer to partnerships in which individuals have romantic, emotional, and/or sexual relationships with multiple people, with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. Recent decades have seen a surge in research interest in polyamory and CNM, warranting efforts to pause and take stock of empirical findings. In this scoping review, we evaluate and synthesize 209 research studies about polyamory and CNM, paying particular attention to trends in research design, theoretical application, and substantive findings. Researchers have focused broadly on (a) outcomes of CNM relationships, (b) attitudes and perceptions of CNM, (c) antecedents of CNM, (d) CNM relational processes, (e) CNM identity development, (f) polyamorous family and parenting, and (g) CNM politics and discourse. We synthesize research findings within each domain, identify gaps in the literature, and discuss the challenges and opportunities we see in advancing research on polyamory and CNM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review of the recent literature on attitudes toward consensual non-monogamy (CNM). These attitudes are constrained to evaluations of people who practice CNM, CNM relationships, and CNM concepts; willingness to engage in or personal interest in practicing CNM is not included in this review. Relevant published research was located through database searches, as well as by perusing references and citations. Based on over two dozen investigations, it is concluded that average attitudes toward CNM are around neutral, with some slightly negative and some slightly positive. Studies taking a comparative perspective—whereby monogamous couples are pitted against CNM couples—overwhelmingly find more favorable attitudes toward monogamy. This literature supports assertions of the prevalence of monocentrism/compulsory monogamy. Further, some researchers investigated sociodemographic and psychological variables as predictors of CNM attitudes. Considering demographic characteristics, those who identify as monogamous and heterosexual tend to be more negative toward CNM relative to their counterparts, and most of the research suggests there are no gender differences in CNM attitudes. In terms of psychological variables, those reflecting authoritarian ideological values tended to predict CNM attitudes the best. The psychological variables are interpreted within the broader dual-process motivational model of prejudice with attention to authoritarianism and social dominance. To conclude, measurement issues are discussed, existing instruments are critiqued, and recommendations are made for which instruments are appropriate for different research goals. Specifically, the Attitudes towards Polyamory scale is a concise, unidimensional instrument with sound psychometric properties, making it a good general assessment of polyamory or CNM. Created using excellent test construction techniques, the Multidimensional Measurement of Attitudes toward Consensual Non-Monogamy (MACS) is a very promising belief-based CNM attitudes scale with three factors. Finally, directions for future research are discussed with an emphasis on differentiating between beliefs and attitudes as suggested by attitude theory, with most CNM attitude scales conflating the former with the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the past two decades have seen an increase in research into both asexuality and polyamory, little is known about their intersection, that is, people who identify as asexual and engage in polyamorous relationships. Using an online survey, we explored the experiences of participants who identify as asexual or on the ace spectrum (e.g., demisexual, gray-asexual) and were in a polyamorous relationship at the time of the survey (N = 321). The majority of our participants identified as White (79.02%), a plurality identified as women (27.1%), and ages ranged from 18 to 53 years old (M = 29.55, SD = 6.77). Two qualitative questions related to motivations for engaging in polyamory were analyzed for this study (N = 224). The first question asked about personal motivations, and the second asked about partner(s)'s influence. Eight codes emerged across the two questions: Needs fulfillment, Exploration/contemplation, Solution to relationship conflict/personal insecurity, a Desire to connect with multiple people, Personal/relationship growth, Rejecting monogamy, Introduced by partner, and Other/no additional context. One additional code was found in Q2: Reluctance/jealousy/distrust. The most common code overall was Exploration/contemplation. Our findings indicate that fulfilling a partner's sexual needs was not a primary motivating factor for ace individuals engaged in polyamory. Ace individuals were more likely to describe experiences as exploring their identity and fulfilling personal needs for connection and intimacy. These findings indicate that motivations for engaging in polyamory are not solely centered in fulfilling sexual desires, and they may have larger implications for the what the scope of romantic and sexual relationships can look at outside of a monogamous and heteronormative context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent review of cultural and academic discourse presented evidence that some people experience attraction to two (or more) people in a preexisting relationship. This phenomenon, symbiosexuality, is understudied in the field of sexuality. Lack of recognition and validation for this attraction, including in the polyamorous community, may be negatively impacting those who experience symbiosexual attraction. I conducted an integrated mixed-methods analysis of secondary data from the 2023 The Pleasure Study to learn more about symbiosexual attraction. Findings from this study support the hypothesis that people experience symbiosexual attraction, which they describe as an attraction to the energy, multidimensionality, and power shared between people in relationships. Further, findings from this study indicate that a diverse group of people experience symbiosexual attraction and, while unanticipated, symbiosexual attraction can be a strong, frequent, and/or pervasive experience. These findings push the boundaries of the concepts of desire and sexual orientation in sexuality studies and challenge the ongoing invisibility and invalidation of and stigma and discrimination against such attractions, within both the polyamorous community and our broader mononormative culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamory has become increasingly visible in American culture, but the relationship arrangement or structure (i.e. one in which an individual has ongoing romantic, sexual, and/or emotional relationships with multiple partners) remains stigmatised. No known research has examined adolescents’ experiences with polyamory, though adolescents are in a stage of developing romantic and sexual relationship preferences. The current study uses a repeated-measures survey design to analyse the mental health of 323 LGBTQ+ adolescents (ages 12 to 17), including 54 polyamorous and ambiamorous (poly/ambi) adolescents, in the context of an affirming summer camp. Ambiamory refers to when a person’s preferred relationship arrangement varies depending on their situation. At baseline, poly/ambi adolescents had higher levels of depressive symptoms than their peers. All adolescents experienced reduced depressive symptoms and anxiety during camp. Thematic analysis of written responses to open-ended questions revealed that poly/ambi adolescents tended to not feel safe to disclose their identity in their home community due to stigmatization of polyamory, people’s lack of understanding of polyamory, and uncertainty or fear about people’s reactions. Poly/ambi adolescents who did feel safe in their home community tended to report supportive or indifferent community attitudes toward polyamory, knowing other polyamorous community members, and comfort with one’s identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research suggests a number of both costs and benefits to oneself that can occur as a result of partners' other relationships in consensual nonmonogamy (CNM), but such costs and benefits have not previously been systematically cataloged. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we present themes derived from semi-structured interviews with 51 individuals (63% white, 55% nonbinary/genderqueer/non-cisgendered, and 77% LGBQ) who have practiced CNM, describing the costs and benefits to themselves that they perceive as a result of their partners' other relationships. Themes describing costs include experiencing difficult feelings (e.g., jealousy), having less with a partner (e.g., less of a partner's time) than one would like, difficulties or conflict within one's own relationship, and difficulties or conflict as a result of interactions between metamours (individuals who share a partner). Themes describing benefits include experiencing positive feelings (e.g., compersion), benefiting from a partner getting needs met in other relationships, strengthening of or pleasurable interactions within one's own relationship, enjoyable or beneficial relationships or interactions between metamours, and personal growth as a result of sharing partners with others. We note that these costs and benefits roughly mirror each other, suggesting that they may reflect the positive and negative sides of some fundamental aspects of CNM. Each of our themes also contains a rich range of elements that suggest avenues for future research. Our results suggest that CNM relationships are complex and multi-faceted, and that further research could fruitfully examine the circumstances that influence whether individuals experience their partners' other relationships positively or negatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic researchers and clinicians tend to categorize consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships (agreements involving sexual, emotional, and/or romantic relationships with multiple partners) into three categories: polyamorous relationships, open relationships or marriages, and swinging or 'in the lifestyle' relationships. In the present study, we explored whether these three categories adequately capture the diversity of CNM configurations and labels using a qualitative approach. From a larger sample of 589 individuals in CNM relationships, nearly one-fourth (n = 146) provided written responses to expand on the nuances of their CNM relationship agreement not captured by academics' typical definitions of polyamory, open relationships, and swinging. To further examine the CNM type diversity, we analyzed the open-ended relationship agreement descriptions of 134 of these participants. Using content analysis, we identified four relationship categories (polyamory, mixed relationship, open relationship, swinging or "in the lifestyle") accompanied by 12 subcategories of nuanced relationship agreements within these CNM relationships. These subcategories highlight that outside of common definitions CNM relationships may (a) allow for or include various combinations of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual connections, (b) include a mix of different CNM relationship types, and/or (c) be in different stages of transition. These results suggest that current common definitions may not adequately capture the diversity of relationship structures for a substantial number of people engaged in CNM. We discuss the implications of our findings, including gaining greater precision in studying CNM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study explores the perspectives of parents in open or polyamorous relationships with regards to challenges and benefits of practicing consensual non‐monogamy (CNM). Background: Studies show that about one in five people, both in Canada and the United States, have been involved in a CNM relationship in their lifetime, a proportion that is even higher among today's young adults. While we know that many of those people have children, little research has focused on the experiences of parents practicing CNM. Method: This article begins to fill this gap, drawing on 34 individual semi‐structured interviews with Canadian parents involved in CNM relationships and their partners. The author explores the benefits and challenges associated with raising children in the context of CNM, as experienced by the participants. Results: The vast majority of participants argued that the benefits of being polyamorous or in an open relationship considerably outweighed the difficulties they encountered. Six overarching themes emerged from the participants' discourses, namely: (1) social acceptance and legal protection, (2) coming out to children, (3) time management, (4) reconciling family obligations and personal needs, (5) it takes a village to raise children, and (6) teaching important values to children. Conclusion: Ultimately, this study shows that parents practicing CNM perceive their relationship model as mostly beneficial for themselves, as parents, and for their family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The last decade has seen an increase in public and academic interest in consensual non‐monogamy (CNM). CNM involves sexual and/or romantic relationships between multiple partners, with the consent of all individuals involved. Engagement in CNM is estimated at 5% of the general population, although due to stigma with the strong idealisation of monogamy in many cultures, it is a hidden population. This qualitative study explores the motivations, benefits, and challenges experienced in CNM relationships, an area that has been understudied despite the resurgence of interest in it. While previous research has mainly focused on comparisons between CNM and monogamy or individual types of CNM such as polyamory, this study seeks to provide a broader understanding of CNM relationships. We employ a critical realist framework and thematically analyse semi‐structured interviews with eight participants. The results identify three overarching themes: mononormativity and cultural norms; growth and responsibility; and diversity and complexity; each has several subthemes. These findings suggest that CNM provides opportunities for greater diversification of needs and increased community and individual growth. The study also highlights the challenges experienced in CNM relationships and the strategies used to manage them, such as personal responsibility for managing difficult emotions and temporarily closing a relationship at times for relationship security. A novel finding in this study is that some individuals involved in CNM have internalised cultural norms and the idealisation of monogamy and need to unlearn these norms. This study adds to the existing knowledge on CNM and is expected to be of interest to clinicians and researchers seeking to understand its motivations, benefits, and challenges. Relationship therapists will benefit from increased knowledge of how to work with clients interested or engaged in CNM relationships. Overall, this study supports previous findings that CNM is a viable, enjoyable, yet sometimes challenging type of relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quantitative study tested hypotheses derived from a previous qualitative study of the factors that facilitated and hindered compersion (the positive feelings derived from one's partner's intimate relations with others) in consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships. A total of 255 participants recruited from online CNM and Alt-Sex communities reported on demographic and relationship characteristics as well as individual, relationship, and metamour-related variables in an online anonymous survey. In Flicker et al. (2022), we identified various factors that predicted three subtypes of compersion: contentment with one's partner's relationships with established metamours (intimate partners of one's partners), excitement sparked by one's partner's new/potentially new intimate connections, and sexual excitement elicited by thinking about one's partner with another person. The current findings were consistent with the Flicker et al. qualitative study, with some hypotheses from the previous study more strongly supported than others. The predictors of compersion most strongly supported by the current data include closeness with one's metamour and knowledge about the partner/metamour relationship, in a positive direction, as well as jealousy, envy, and attachment anxiety, in a negative direction. Individual-level predictors were weak predictors of compersion. The sexual arousal subtype of compersion was weakly endorsed by the current sample and predictors of this subtype were distinct from predictors of the other subtypes of compersion. The findings suggest that the development of new interventions that target reducing jealousy and envy and increasing attachment security within the unique context of CNM relationships could have the added benefit of increasing compersion. The development of these interventions stands to benefit a growing population of individuals involved in CNM relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent attention to the non-monogamous identity known as the "unicorn" has increased the visibility of a poorly understood sexual minority. Conflicting definitions in popular media, heightened social stigma, and reports of inequitable, and even abusive, relationship dynamics justify attention to unicorns. With very few academic studies to date on unicorn identity, an exploratory study was conducted to address a gap in sexuality research. Discourse analysis of an online polyamorous community offered a definition of unicorns and revealed that those interested in unicorn dynamics are treated as an "out-group" in polyamorous spaces. Further, evidence of community gatekeeping revealed that unicorns threaten polyamorous identity security and trigger identity negotiations that may be impeding queer feminist efforts to undo relational and sexual hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this narrative review is to integrate the published literature on mental health provider bias against less recognized groups who may be marginalized due to their sexual identities or sexual and relationship practices. These include asexual-identified individuals, individuals who practice consensual non-monogamy (CNM), and those who engage in sexual practices that include bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism. We situate these findings regarding provider bias within broader themes emerging from the literature on affirmative mental health care provision for members of these sexually stigmatized groups. We identified the relevant literature by searching PsycINFO, as well as Google Scholar, given the novel topic areas. We summarize and evaluate published articles and then present our analysis of the broader themes, strengths, and limitations that emerged among these three developing literatures. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and clinical practice to aid clinicians who wish to minimize bias against these relatively understudied groups. These recommendations are summarized as follows: avoiding normative assumptions, countering pathologization, and taking responsibility for training. This paper describes current research on bias among mental health providers against asexual clients, as well as clients who practice consensual non-monogamy or kink. Clinicians are encouraged to avoid assumptions and seek out to training to address their own biases about clients with these identities and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is an area of increasing empirical and clinical interest. Few studies have explored the mental health of CNM individuals. Using the minority stress framework, we sought to address this gap. We analyzed a data set of college students gathered through the Healthy Minds Network. A sample of 91 participants with data fit for analyses were identified as CNM. Random samples of participants in other relationship structures were also selected yielding a total sample of n = 455. Results indicated CNM individuals are significantly more likely to identify as gender/sexual minorities, be significantly younger, and report significantly higher rates of emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual assault, and depression compared to non-CNM individuals. CNM individuals did not differ from non-CNM individuals in terms of sex assigned at birth, race, and financial stress. When controlling for demographics, CNM individuals reported significantly higher depressive symptoms compared to those who were dating and married. Multinomial regression analyses, with all relevant covariates entered, suggested probable depression to be associated with higher odds of identifying as CNM compared to married/partnered participants, and sexual assault within the past 12 months to be associated with higher odds of identifying as CNM compared those who were dating and those were married/partnered. We discuss areas for continued research as well as implications for clinicians working with CNM clients. Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is a stigmatized practice in Western society. Because of this, it is possible that CNM individuals experience disproportionate psychological distress. Our sample of 91 CNM individuals reported significantly more psychological distress compared to non-CNM individuals. When demographic factors were held-constant, CNM individuals reported significantly more depression compared to those who were married and dating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamory is a relationship style in which partners consensually agree to engage in sexual and/or emotional relationships with concurrent partners. Compared with other forms of consensual non-monogamy (CNM), polyamory practitioners tend to report greater relationship satisfaction and less jealousy. However, the unique motivations leading people to engage with polyamory are less understood. Previous research has examined motivations for engaging in CNM relationship styles, in general, but no research has focused exclusively on the motivations of polyamory practitioners. The present study draws on the open-ended responses of 63 U.S. American adults who reported previous or current engagement in at least one consensually polyamorous relationship. Thematic analyses revealed four themes guiding participants' initial motivations for polyamory engagement: values alignment, relationship factors, external triggers, and sexuality. The study's themes are discussed in the context of self-determination theory and situated in the existing body of CNM and polyamory research. Directions for future research provide next steps for examining outcomes associated with specific polyamory motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]