People in open relationships are HAPPIER than monogamous couples, study claims

Monogamous relationships are considered by many to kindle commitment, trust and love.

But a new study had found that those in open relationships are just as happy, if not happier, than those in committed relationships.

Scientists say that despite the stigma, people in consensual open relationships report high levels of satisfaction and trust, as well as low levels of jealousy.
The study, conducted at the University of Michigan, analyzed different relationships among participants older than age 25.

The sample included more than 2,100 people, with about 1,500 individuals in monogamous relationships and around 600 in committed non-monogamous relationships.

The group rated relationship components: satisfaction, commitment, trust, jealousy and passionate love, which is the intense love feeling often described in new relationships.

YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO REMEMBER OTHER WOMEN'S FACES WHEN YOU'RE IN A RELATIONSHIP

Attractive women in relationships pay more attention to the looks of potential female love rivals than those of men, a study found.

In their experiment, researchers from Abertay University in Dundee tested the memory for faces of women in long-term romantic relationships.

The women completed a standard memory task in which they viewed faces for three seconds each and were later asked if they had seen the faces before.

Researchers found that being in a relationship meant females had a sharper memory for the faces of how other women looked, compared to when they were single.

The psychologists behind the study suggest that the reason women have the superior memory for potential rivals' faces is to guard against their partners being stolen from them.
The researchers also tackled the assumption that people in open relationships don't care about each other enough to be happy in their primary relationship.

The team found that an individual had more satisfaction, trust, commitment and passionate love in their primary mate than in their secondary relationship.

On the other hand, people in open relationships were significantly less satisfied and less committed to their relationship than their monogamous counterparts.

'Overall, the outcomes for monogamous and consensual non-monogamous participants were the same - indicating no net benefit of one relationship style over another,' said lead author Dr Terri Conley, an associate professor of psychology and women's studies at the University of Michigan.

This research comes on the heels of a study released yesterday that found individuals who believe in soulmates made no effort to improve their sex life.

The team had discovered that these individuals saw a lack of chemistry in the bedroom as a sign of incompatibility and instead of working to resolve the issues or giving it time, they simply ended the relationship.

'People who believe in sexual destiny are using their sex life as a barometer for how well their relationship is doing, and they believe problems in the bedroom equal problems in the relationship as a whole,' said Jessica Maxwell, a PhD candidate in the department of psychology at the University of Toronto.

'Whereas people who believe in sexual growth not only believe they can work on their sexual problems, but they are not letting it affect their relationship satisfaction.'

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