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Category: Project

Description: Research on polyamorous relationships has increased substantially over the last decade. While research has documented how polyamory is practiced and why individuals pursue such arrangements, little research has examined who is in polyamorous relationships and how they might differ from individuals in monogamous relationships. Present research is one of the first studies to address this by comparing the demographic backgrounds of individuals in polyamorous (N = 2,428) and monogamous (N = 539) relationships in the United States. Results indicated individuals in polyamorous relationships were more likely to report minority sexual identities. Despite similar age distributions, individuals in polyamorous relationships were more likely to report being in a civil union, being divorced, and earning less than $40,000 a year compared to individuals in monogamous relationships. People in polyamorous relationships were also more likely to select “other” options for most demographic characteristics, suggesting that they tend to choose less traditional response options in general. The current research suggests that when comparing individuals in polyamorous and monogamous relationships on various end-points, some demographic differences need to be considered and potentially controlled.