Sexual satisfaction among individuals in monogamous and consensually non-monogamous relationships

Abstract

Monogamous individuals are believed to have better sex lives than those who are consensually non-monogamous (CNM). We compared the sexual satisfaction of CNM and monogamous individuals and also considered the relationship satisfaction of participants utilizing a non-targeted sample of CNM participants. We found that monogamous people reported slightly lower sexual satisfaction and lower orgasm rates than those who are CNM. Moreover, the type of CNM in which a person engages is important: swingers consistently reported higher sexual satisfaction than monogamous individuals, whereas those in open relationships had equivalent levels of satisfaction to those in monogamous relationships. Relationship satisfaction did not differ between CNM and monogamous groups. These findings do not support the perception that people in monogamous relationships have better sex than CNM individuals.