"Beyond monogamy" study

[oroszlan]

Lessons from Long-Term Male Couples in
Non-Monogamous Relationships
86 couples were interviewed.
You can download a comprehensive study summary by clicking here.

Site: http://www.thecouplesstudy.com/

Comments

[c_smudge]

the charts fall well inside the pretty and useless category. it's as if the authors located and became very excited about the chart maker in powerpoint 2010. the charts are there to be charts, they don't actually lead the viewer into any deeper or clearer understanding of the issues. such wasted potential--they could definitely read Edward Tufte.

clearly the audience is not scientifically minded people or professionals, i think it's aimed mostly at gay men. i'm sure there's something useful in there, somewhere.

they begin the paper with "Although non-monogamous relationships are very
common in the gay community...", and I wonder where that comes from? I don't know if it's actually true--it certainly isn't quantified anywhere in the document.

[shuffle81]

IMO, while the charts are quite pointless, the actual interviews make interesting reading.

they begin the paper with "Although non-monogamous relationships are very
common in the gay community...", and I wonder where that comes from? I don't know if it's actually true--it certainly isn't quantified anywhere in the document.

From their website (http://www.thecouplesstudy.com/?page_id=128):

Most research shows that approximately two-thirds of long-term male couples who have been together for five years or more are honestly non-monogamous (Shernoff,LCSW, 2007).

[oroszlan]

they also say it was quite easy to find potential subjects for the interviews. hence the claim - "very common"

[c_smudge]

I call bullshit--

This may be because of a number of factors--the location of the study, their personal networks (as it was a network study, friends of friends, etc), the people chosen for the study...

The Shernoff study (http://www.gaypsychotherapy.com/FAMP_179.pdf) mentions a study that says 70% of gay male couples are MONOGAMOUS. One thing that the Shernoff paper seems to say is that the research is conflicting and nonconclusive. It does NOT say categorically that nonmonogamy is the rule or even "very common". The one study that does mention a high rate of nonmonogamy is from an Advocate poll--hardly a representative sample of our community.

[oroszlan]

hm. and?

this report cited a study OF LONG TERM COUPLES that suggests 2/3 of them ar non-monogamous

[c_smudge]

This study (thecouplestudy.com) cited the Shernoff study, which states that most couples are monogamous.

[oroszlan]

you mean they referred to this part : "Research documents that approximately one third of male couples are sexually exclusive (‘‘Advocate Sex Poll,’’ 2002; Bryant & Demian, 1994; LaSala, 2004; Wagner, Remien,
& Carballo-Dieguez, 2000)."?

and?
the problem is?

[oroszlan]

yes. ONE study finds...

[c_smudge]

and the very next sentence is "70% of men in male couples reported being in
a monogamous relationship and would view any sex outside the relationship as a
betrayal of commitment (Campbell, 2000)."

let's see: two reports--both contradictory, one scientific, and one from a pop culture magazine.

[oroszlan]

what TWO reports?

did you miss what is after‘‘Advocate Sex Poll,’’ 2002?

as in Bryant & Demian, 1994; LaSala, 2004; Wagner, Remien, & Carballo-Dieguez, 2000)."?

[c_smudge]

Okay, again, those studies don't say that--the Bryant and Demian study says that 22% of gay men identify as nonmonogamous. The LaSala study said that the numbers haven't changed since the outbreak of AIDS. The Wagner, Remien, & Carballo-Dieguez, 2000 article provides no numbers at all, merely saying that at least one of their fifteen participants had an open relationship.

I'm just saying the Shernoff study does NOT claim gay men tend to be nonmonogamous, it says the research is unconclusive--therefore I disgree with the original posted study's assertion that gay men are "very common[ly] nonmonogamous.