Friends with Benefits Relationships in Young Norwegian Adults

Abstract

Objective: To explore Norwegian young adults’ experiences with friends with benefits (FWB) relationships. Design and Method: In 2013, a questionnaire survey was sent online by the poll organization Ipsos MMI to a representative national web sample of 2,090 persons aged 18–29 years of which 27.2 % responded (n = 568). Results: A majority of the respondents (53.5%), and more women than men (58.2% versus 46.6%, p = 0.010), reported to have been involved in a FWB relationship. Parallel sexual relations to the FWB relationship was reported by 51.9% of the sample. A total of 27.5% claimed they had had extradyadic sex with a casual partner once, 16.4% had had sex several times with casual partners, and 8.0% claimed they had had sex with a parallel FWB partner. In regard to experiences they had had with their current or most recent FWB partner, the most commonly reported interaction activities were to have touched each other sexually (99.2%), vaginal intercourse (96.5%), kissing (95.0%), talked together about something meaningful (87.0%), oral sex (86.7%), and mutual masturbation (73.7%). More men than women reported experience of mutual masturbation (85.7% versus 67.1%, p < 0.001) and anal intercourse (25.9% versus 14.9%, p < 0.05), and more women than men reported to have had vaginal intercourse (98.2% versus 93.3%, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The perception of intimacy with the current or most recent FWB partner was relatively high, and few negative feelings were reported by the participants.