Three in a bed: The intricacies of multi-sex threesomes

Abstract

In recent years, the topic of threesomes has become more and more visible within the mainstream media. Threesomes now feature in a plethora of media pieces, television shows, films, and there are even mobile applications specifically catering for those looking to have threesomes. Despite this increased interest, however, academic research has somewhat neglected this area. Accordingly, this thesis presents the first qualitative study on both men and women’s threesomes for more than 25 years. The research focuses on developing an in-depth understanding of threesomes within a contemporary context, investigating people’s motivations for, experiences of, and attitudes to threesomes, from the perspective of those with actual experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 individuals (16 women, 12 men) who had ever engaged in a multi-sex threesome. Those having only engaged in all same-sex threesomes were excluded in order to provide a narrower focus for the study. Those heavily involved with sexual minority support groups, as well as swinging, were also excluded in an attempt to limit the particular biases that respondents from these groups can create. The target population were drawn from personal connections as well as via snowball sampling. The sample were mainly white, middle-class, and roughly half of them identified as heterosexual. The findings suggest that threesomes are multi-faceted experiences with multiple purposes, meanings, and motivations. It is suggested that more inclusive attitudes towards those from sexual minorities, enhanced sexual freedoms for men and women, as well as societal expectations to explore new forms of sex, have diminished many of the stigmas around threesomes, thus enabling more people to be interested in them. It is also suggested that threesomes may simultaneously represent both a bolstering of, and a challenge to, the institution of monogamy.

Date of Award	13 Sep 2017
Original language	English
Supervisor	Eric Anderson (Supervisor) & Mark McCormack (Supervisor)