AUTHOR=Kelberga Anna (Kelberg) , Martinsone Baiba 

TITLE=Differences in Motivation to Engage in Sexual Activity Between People in Monogamous and Non-monogamous Committed Relationships

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.753460

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.753460

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This study compared motivations to engage in sex between monogamous and non-monogamous respondents (n=1238, out of which 641 monogamous and 596 non-monogamous respondents; women – 47.4%, men – 50.9%, other gender – 1.7%; age: M=27.78 years, SD=7.53, range=18–62). Research aim was to identify whether there are significant differences in self-reported reasons to engage in sexual activity between these two groups. 
Presented with 17 reasons to engage in sexual activity, the respondents rated the frequency with which they engage in sex for each reason. While both monogamous and non-monogamous respondents reported to engage in sex with the same frequency for reasons of sexual release and physical arousal, the research uncovered that non-monogamous respondents engage in sex significantly more often to seek new experiences, to boost self-esteem, to guard their mate, to look for a specific kind of sex or to experience the thrill of the forbidden. Overall, non-monogamous respondents reported higher frequency to engage in sex for most reasons.