A Surprising Number of People Have Been in Open Relationships

Dating more than one person at a time used to seem taboo, but a new YouGov survey shows that a surprising number of people have hooked up with someone else while they were in a relationship—and we're not talking about cheating.

Among the 1,000 American adults surveyed, 17 percent of those aged 18-44 had engaged in some sort of sexual activity with someone else—with their partner's permission. While that number drastically declined with age (only nine percent of people ages 45-64 had done the same, and three percent ages 65 and over had), people's feelings about their own partners having sex with someone else reflected the same pattern. And though 56 percent of people ages 18-29 said they would be totally opposed to their partner hooking up with someone else, that's only a little more than half of those surveyed—and their views were in stark contrast to older generations, as 78 percent of those 65 and over said they would definitely not be okay with their partners fooling around with someone else.

Perhaps we owe this to increasing awareness of polyamory as a lifestyle. An April study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found that one in five Americans had been in an open relationship, defined as "any relationship in which all partners agree that each may have romantic and/or sexual relationships with other partners." Even dating apps are changing to serve this growing market: OKCupid lets couples link their accounts to find additional partners, and there's a dating app just for polyamorous people.

Unfortunately, the increased openness to polyamory doesn't seem to have led to less cheating. The number of people who have stepped out on their partners ranged from 17 to 21 percent for different age groups and didn't show any linear decline.

Still, it seems that people who are less inclined toward monogamy now know there are other options available to them—and as long as they keep it safe and consensual, that can only be a good thing.

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Source: http://www.glamour.com/story/study-shows-surprising-percentage-open-relationships