Polyamorous or Monogamous Relationships?

They'll say you are bad

or perhaps you are mad

or at least you should stay undercover.

Your mind must be bare

if you would dare

to think you can love

more than one lover.

David Rovics

Sexual relationships in Second Life are often complex and often challenging relative to time zones etc. ultimately however, in my experience sexual relationships are ultimately very fulfilling. A practice which is far more prevalent in Second Life than Everyday life is polyamory. In this article I’m going to challenge societies ostracism of polyamorous relationships with some interesting research I came across!

A lot of women spend their time worrying whether or not their sexual desires and practices fit in with what society deems “normal.”

Well, fret not everyone, as with the global pandemic, society needs to recognise the new social norm!

Some of the allegedly “taboo” sex acts society savagely judges and looks down upon are actually really, really good for your relationships and mental health, and the ones labelled “normal” are the ones that, well, are a little bit boring.

Most people frown upon polyamory, but little do they know that couples who are in open relationships are way, way happier, and more fulfilled than the worrywarts. If honestly and openly dating more than one person at a time is your cup of tea, this pertains to you.

As we all know, one of the secret ingredients to a successful relationship is communication, which is where a lot of traditional couples fall short. Polyamorous couples have a relationship built on honesty, trust, and obviously, openness, so there is no lying or sneaking around. Unlike cheating monogamous people.

If polyamorous Susan really hits it off with polyamorous Sally, she talks about it with her girlfriend, polyamorous Sage, who is also dating polyamorous Steve at the same time. Sage is okay with Sally, Susan is okay with Steve, and everyone is happy.

And now a new study is backing up this theory!

Researchers at the University of Michigan, analysed different relationships among participants older than age 25. The sample included more than 2,100 people, with about 1,500 individuals in monogamous relationships and around 600 in committed non-monogamous relationships.

The group rated relationship components: satisfaction, commitment, trust, jealousy and passionate love, which is the intense love feeling often described in new relationships. Researchers found no differences between monogamous and consensual open participants in terms of satisfaction and passionate love.

However, levels of jealousy were lower and trust was higher among those engaged in committed open relationships – who knew!!

The researchers also tackled the assumption that people in open relationships don’t care about each other enough to be happy in their primary relationship. The team found that an individual had more satisfaction, trust, commitment and passionate love in their primary mate than in their secondary relationship.

Lead author Dr Terri Conley, an associate professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of Michigan; said

“On the other hand, people in open relationships were significantly less satisfied and less committed to their relationship than their monogamous counterparts. Overall, the outcomes for monogamous and consensual non-monogamous participants were the same – indicating no net benefit of one relationship style over another.”

I’m not advocating shagging every pixel that moves within Second Life, merely suggesting that if you’re in a monogamous relationship and having polyamorous thoughts, there’s no need to worry, and lots of reasons to talk to your partner about it, chances are, they’re having polyamorous thoughts too 😊

What’s on this week?

Head & Eyes – LeLUTKA Head Fleur 2.5

Hair – Foxy - Haven. (XS/LelutkaEvo)

Skin – [the Skinnery] Karima (LeLutkaEVO) honey

Body, Hands & Feet – Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V5.2 + [ session ] BOM Addons

AO – Vista Animations *HUD 5.34* - NINA BENTO AO CURVY V1.2

Shape – [the Skinnery] Karima (LeLutkaEVOFleur) Shape - Slightly Modified

Rings – (Yummy) Fairytale Rings - Maitreya

Face Piercings – ^^Swallow^^ Indira

Earrings – Cae :: Juno ::

Tongue Piercing – *PKC* Caroline Lip Piercing - Lelutka Fleur

Necklace – Full_Necklace [MANDALA] KAHUKUIHUKU

Jacket – RKKN. Lea's Biker Jacket Beige w/ Headphones/Maitreya with Tshirt

Leggings – Blueberry - Dynamite - Leggings - Leather - Maitreya

Boots – Eudora3D Road Boots + Socks + KneePads (Maitreya) @ this round of Midnight Order

Pictures taken at the every expanding Backdrop City