Personality differences between individuals involved in polyamorous and monogamous relationships

Abstract

Polyamory is a type of consensual non-monogamy (CNM) where the partners agree they may establish multiple simultaneous emotional relationships. In recent years, the number of scientific publications investigating polyamory has increased, but little attention has been paid to personality traits solely in this type of CNM. The present study took into account the Big Five personality factors, risk taking, and ambiguity tolerance. The study was conducted in a group of 258 participants, including 119 polyamorous subjects (70 women, 43 men and 6 nonbinary individuals) aged 18-52 years. As anticipated, individuals in polyamorous relationships scored higher on openness to experience, risk taking in social and ethical domains, and on ambiguity tolerance; they also scored lower on conscientiousness. The findings show that individuals involved in polyamorous relationships tend to present more complex thinking, greater tolerance to new and unclear situations, and lower compliance with social norms.