Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA, 95926, USA.
Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2024 Jan;53(1):321-339. doi: 10.1007/s10508-023-02720-5. Epub 2023 Nov 9.
Consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) is increasingly recognized as a relevant aspect of family and relational diversity in the USA, but CNM-parenting is still perceived as a taboo topic. Pioneering research has only started to emerge and reveals persisting notions of regulation, discrimination, and stigmatization of CNM-parents. CNM-stigmatization is less prevalent among emerging adults, but it is unclear whether young adults' increasing acceptance of CNM relationships extends to their views on parenting. To explore emerging adults' perspectives on CNM-parenting, we conducted a mixed-method study with a diverse sample of 107 US-American college students. Each participant read four relationship-vignettes (monogamy, CNM-polyamory, CNM-open relationship, CNM-swinging) in randomized order, provided ratings for the perceived parenting capabilities of the described partners and described reasons for those ratings in short essays. On average, participants perceived the monogamous partners as more capable of raising children than the CNM partners. LGBTQ + participants perceived CNM-parents, especially polyamorous and swinging partners, as more capable for parenthood than did heterosexual participants. There were no significant differences in response patterns between males and females. In their essays, participants discussed their views on how the different relationship structures might affect parenting and what they perceived as indicators and conditions for successful parenting. The results of this study were interpreted relative to life-course perspectives of identity development, and relative to politico-economic perspectives on parental investment and sexual strategy theories. Implications are derived for sexuality education, research, and practice.
同意性非单偶制（CNM）在美国日益被视为家庭和关系多样性的一个相关方面，但 CNM 育儿仍然被视为禁忌话题。开创性的研究才刚刚开始出现，揭示了对 CNM 父母的监管、歧视和污名化的持续观念。CNM 污名化在新兴成年人中不太普遍，但尚不清楚年轻人对 CNM 关系的接受程度是否会扩展到他们对育儿的看法。为了探讨新兴成年人对 CNM 育儿的看法，我们对美国的 107 名大学生进行了一项混合方法研究，该研究采用了多样化的样本。每位参与者以随机顺序阅读了四个关系情景（一夫一妻制、CNM-多配偶制、CNM-开放式关系、CNM-摇摆式关系），对所描述伴侣的育儿能力进行评分，并在短文描述中解释这些评分的原因。平均而言，参与者认为一夫一妻制的伴侣比 CNM 伴侣更有能力抚养孩子。LGBTQ+参与者认为 CNM 父母，尤其是多配偶制和摇摆式关系的伴侣，比异性恋参与者更有能力为人父母。男性和女性之间的反应模式没有显著差异。在他们的文章中，参与者讨论了他们对不同关系结构如何影响育儿的看法，以及他们认为什么是成功育儿的指标和条件。这项研究的结果相对于身份发展的生命周期观点，以及相对于父母投资的政治经济观点和性策略理论进行了解释。为性教育、研究和实践提供了启示。
