Between Love and Stigma: A Vignette-Based Study of Monogamous Bias and Gender-Related Perceptions in Romantic Relationships

Nowadays, an increasing number of people are opting for alternative forms of Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM), an umbrella term which includes all the different kinds of relationships where all the people involved have chosen by common accord to have more than a single romantic partner. Since this relational arrangement challenges mononormativity (i.e., the assumption that monogamy is healthier or more natural), the present study explored whether and to what extent monogamous and non-monogamous individuals share monogamous bias. Additionally, we examined whether participants perceived women in CNM relationships in a more stereotypical way compared to those in a monogamous relation. We conducted an online vignette study in which participants were randomly assigned to read either a vignette depicting a monogamous relationship or a vignette depicting a CNM relationship. The total sample consisted of 224 participants aged 19 to 69 years (M = 27.27, SD = 7.11; n monogamous = 127, 56.7%; n CNM = 97, 43.3%). Overall, the results showed that non-monogamous participants exhibited higher levels of monogamous bias, perceiving the vignette depicting a CNM relationship as lower in quality, less acceptable, and less sexually satisfying compared to monogamous respondents. Furthermore, our results showed that non-monogamous women exposed to the non-monogamous vignette perceived the women partner as more committed than participants in any other condition. These findings highlight the pervasive influence of mononormativity even among non-monogamous individuals and challenge the persistence of stereotypical views about women in CNM relationships, emphasizing the need for further research on the interplay between relationship arrangement and prejudices.