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Satisfaction with Open Sexual Agreements in Australian Gay Men’s Relationships: The Role of Perceived Discrepancies in Benefit

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Abstract

This study investigated whether satisfaction with open sexual agreements in gay men’s relationships was associated with perceptions of discrepancies in the benefit experienced from those agreements. Three types of perceived discrepancy between the self and the relationship partner were examined: frequency of casual sex, attractiveness of casual partners, and “overall” benefit. Results from a survey conducted in 2010 of 685 Australian gay men in relationships with open agreements showed that men perceiving discrepancies in benefit, particularly those representing “under-benefit”, were less satisfied with their agreement than were men perceiving equal benefit. These results supported hypotheses derived from equity theory and provide insight into factors associated with gay men’s satisfaction with open agreements. These findings also have important practical implications. Professionals counselling gay men or couples experiencing low satisfaction with open agreements may consider raising issues of unequal benefit and work with their clients towards achieving equality.

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Acknowledgments

This research received funding from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Victoria University. The author would like to thank the men who participated in the survey, Stuart Todd for his invaluable research assistance, and Anthony Lyons and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article.

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  1. School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Victoria University, P.O. Box 14428, Melbourne, VIC, 8001, Australia

    Warwick Hosking

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  1. Warwick Hosking
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Correspondence to Warwick Hosking.

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Hosking, W. Satisfaction with Open Sexual Agreements in Australian Gay Men’s Relationships: The Role of Perceived Discrepancies in Benefit. Arch Sex Behav 42, 1309–1317 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0005-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0005-9

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