Are the Developmental Features of Emerging Adulthood Associated with Willingness to Engage in Consensually Nonmonogamous Relationships?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the developmental features of emerging adulthood were associated with willingness to engage in consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships. All participants (N = 792) were English speaking emerging adults (ages 18-25) residing in the USA. About half were attending college, whereas the other half had no college experience. After controlling for a number of variables (i.e., college status, sex/gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity exploration, sexual identity commitment, and casual sex attitudes), greater perceptions of emerging adulthood as a time of identity exploration and feeling in between were negatively associated with willingness to engage in CNM relationships. Also, greater perceptions of emerging adulthood as a time of experimentation/possibilities was positively associated with willingness to engage in CNM. Although our final model explained 33.5% of the variance in willingness to engage in CNM relationships, perceptions of the developmental features of emerging adulthood accounted for just 4.2% of the variance explained. Future research on CNM relationships and relationship education for emerging adults are discussed.