Abstract
Sociosexuality refers to individual differences in interest and willingness to engage in sexual activity without an emotional connection. Unrestricted sociosexuality is associated with a greater likelihood of infidelity and with poorer relationship quality. However, previous research has failed to examine relationship-specific characteristics that may moderate these findings. Two studies of romantically involved adults examined whether relationship commitment and different relationship agreement types moderate the associations between unrestricted sociosexuality and infidelity. Study 1 (N = 300) showed that individuals in consensual monogamous (CM) relationships with extradyadic sex (EDS) experiences were more sociosexually unrestricted than individuals without such experiences. The positive association between unrestricted sociosexuality and EDS emerged only for less, but not more, committed individuals. Study 2 (N = 270) replicated these results. Furthermore, results showed that individuals in consensual nonmonogamous relationships (CNM) relationships were the most sociosexually unrestricted, but no differences emerged in relationship commitment or satisfaction, when compared to individuals in CM relationships without prior EDS. Individuals in CM relationship with prior EDS were the least committed and satisfied. The negative association between unrestricted sociosexuality and both relationship quality indicators emerged for all individuals in CM relationships, but it was nonsignificant for individuals in CNM relationships. Implications are discussed.
Highlights
One’s unrestricted sociosexuality may be problematic and threatening to one’s romantic relationship
Results showed that individuals in consensual non-monogamous relationships (CNM) relationships were the most sociosexually unrestricted, but no differences emerged in relationship commitment or satisfaction, when compared to individuals in consensual monogamous (CM) relationships without prior extradyadic sex (EDS)
This association was again moderated by commitment, b = -0.27, SE = .12, z(189) = -2.18, p = .029, 95% CI [-0.51, -0.03], such that it was only observed for less committed individuals (-1 SD), b = 1.07, SE = .36, z(189) = 2.97, p = .03, 95% CI [0.37, 1.78], and not for more committed individuals (+1 SD), b = 0.09, SE = .19, z(189) = 0.46, p =
Summary
One’s unrestricted sociosexuality may be problematic and threatening to one’s romantic relationship. Romantically involved individuals have an implicit (and often explicit) relationship agreement of sexual monogamy in their relationship, whereby any form of EDS is not allowed and perceived as infidelity by the partner (Barta & Kiene, 2005; Cohen, 2015; Treas & Giesen, 2000; Ziegler, Conley, Moors, Matsick, & Rubin, 2015) Despite this prohibition, individuals sometimes violate this agreement and engage in EDS. Consistent with this, it is possible that different relationship quality indicators, such as commitment and satisfaction, interact with sociosexuality to prevent EDS In support of this idea, unrestricted individuals are still less likely to engage in infidelity when more committed to their relationship (Mattingly et al, 2011; Rodrigues & Lopes, 2016). Such CNM agreements were more likely to be reported by unrestricted individuals, than compared to CM agreements (Mogilski, Memering, Welling, & Shackelford, 2015)
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