Attachment and Sexual Permissiveness

Abstract

How does the psychology of attachment relate to sexual permissiveness? Do some attachment–sexuality links differ as a function of biological sex? Are attachment–sexuality links truly universal across cultures or are some localized to Western populations? Across 10 world regions ( N = 17,837), using multiple indicators of permissive sexuality, we attempted to replicate and extend recent work on these questions. Unrestricted sociosexuality was consistently linked to positive Models of Self in men but much less so among women. Self-reports of having an unfaithful sexual personality were linked to dismissing attachment in both men and women, though additional associations were observed with fearful attachment suggesting infidelity as a form of sexual permissiveness may be more closely associated with negative Models of Other. A measure of short-term mating interests was more strongly linked to dismissing attachment in men than in women. Engaging in short-term mate poaching (i.e., stealing another person’s partner for a brief affair) was linked with low overall attachment security in women but not in men. Many of the revealed associations between attachment and sexuality were relatively small in size, and some appeared to be localized to Westernized cultures.