New sociosexuality research could revolutionize how we think about casual sex
Recent research indicates sociosexuality comprises two distinct dimensions: motivations for casual sex and committed relationships. High pair bonding motivation enhances relationship satisfaction, while casual sex desire lowers commitment and increases interest in alternatives.
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Recent research published in Personality and Individual Differences challenges the traditional view of sociosexuality, suggesting that motivations for casual sex and committed relationships are distinct rather than existing on a single continuum. The study, conducted by researchers at Florida State University, involved 320 participants and utilized both a one-dimensional and a revised two-dimensional measure of sociosexuality. The findings indicate that individuals can simultaneously desire casual sex and long-term relationships, with each motivation influencing relationship outcomes differently. High motivation for pair bonding correlates with greater relationship satisfaction and commitment, while a strong desire for casual sex is linked to lower commitment and increased interest in alternative partners. The study highlights the importance of considering these motivations separately to better understand their impact on romantic behaviors. However, limitations include reliance on self-reported data and a cross-sectional design, which may not capture causal relationships. Future research could explore how these motivations interact over time and their effects on various aspects of human mating behavior.
- New research suggests sociosexuality should be viewed as two distinct dimensions: casual sex and committed relationships.
- High motivation for pair bonding is associated with greater relationship satisfaction and commitment.
- A strong desire for casual sex correlates with lower commitment and interest in alternative partners.
- The study challenges the traditional view that casual sex and committed relationships exist on opposite ends of a single spectrum.
- Future research may investigate the interaction of these motivations over time and their influence on mating behavior.
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3 commentsThe issue here is that humans are a combination of their natural state (how they would be if they were raised with no contact, direct or indirect, with society) and social conditioning (the system of induced emotions and mental strategies that society instills in people to sustain and propagate itself).
"Committed relationships" are in the natural state most likely naturally living in a tribe, with probably little or no pair bonding/coupling in humans, while western social conditioning is about committed relationships, marriage, etc. with several very different flavors (traditional marriage, polyginous marriage, hierarchical polyamory, etc.)
"Casual sex" in the natural state probably "just happens", while social conditioning has a whole lot of mental ideas about with whom/when/how much you should do it, what it means if you do/don't do it, etc.
The problem with studying the natural state is that there are little or no humans living in it (and certainly none accessible to most/all researchers), and the closest animals, chimpanzees and bonobos, are significantly different between them in their sociosexuality.
The problem with studying social conditioning is that it massively varies between gender, location, subculture, age, historical period, and varies randomly between individuals.
So this study at best might manage to describe the average social conditioning that currently affects Mechanical Turk users (clearly chosen because it's easy and cheap to target them, rather than any attempt at producing quality research), and thus is pretty much useless.
Revolutionary! Ground-breaking!
Start with books from Rollo Tomassi and Rian Stone.
"The seduction community has done more to advance the understanding of intersexual dynamics in the last 15 years than the whole of psychology and sociology has done in the past 150 years." – Nick Krauser
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