A study that analyzed data from the first MSM cycle of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system, conducted from 2003 to 2005 estimated relationships between number of casual male sex partners within the previous year and demographic information, self-reported HIV status, and risk behaviors: “Among respondents, 76% reported having had a casual male partner; 32% had only male casual partners and 44% had main and casual partners; 24% had main male partners exclusively.”1. This confirms much the same results found in a study conducted at about the same time, which revealed that among gay male couples in San Francisco: “Ninety nine percent of couples reported having an agreement…Specifically, 45% had monogamous agreements, 47% had open agreements, and 8% reported discrepant agreements.”2. In comparison, at most: “approximately 4-5% of North American adults, when given the option to describe their relationship, indicate that they are engaged in consensual non-monogamy.”3.
1. Number of casual male sexual partners and associated factors among men who have sex with men: Results from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system
Eli S Rosenberg, Patrick S Sullivan1, Elizabeth A DiNenno, Laura F Salazar and Travis H Sanchez
BMC Public Health 2011, 11:189 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-189
2. Relationship Characteristics and Motivations behind Agreements among Gay Male Couples: Differences by Agreement Type and Couple Serostatus
Colleen C. Hoff, PhD, Sean C. Beougher, M.A., Deepalika Chakravarty, M.S., Lynae A. Darbes, PhD, and Torsten B. Neilands, PhD
AIDS Care. 2010 Jul; 22(7): 827–835. doi: 10.1080/09540120903443384
3. Love and sex: polyamorous relationships are perceived more favorably than swinging and open relationships
Jes L. Matsick, Terri D. Conley, Ali Ziegler, Amy C. Moors and Jennifer D. Rubin
Departments of Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
(Received 31 July 2013; accepted 6 August 2013)