Relationships in the "friends with benefits" format are a special kind of intimate connection that begins with ordinary friendship and then develops into a sexual relationship without the commitment and exclusivity typical of traditional couples. A new meta-analysis published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior summarized data from 38 studies to find out how such relationships affect participants' sex lives, health and psychological state.
Researchers from the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee analyzed data from thousands of participants. They compared people in friends-with-benefits relationships with those in serious romantic relationships, in casual hookups, in booty call relationships, and also with single people.
The results showed that in friends-with-benefits relationships, sex lives are more varied: participants more often reported oral and anal sex, whereas in serious couples deep kissing and petting were more common. At the same time, men in such relationships reported more sexual variety than women.
However, this freedom has a downside: participants in friends with benefits have a higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and they use condoms less often. This is linked to a larger number of sexual partners and possible participation in several such relationships at the same time.
On the other hand, these relationships showed a lower level of violence and aggression compared with serious romantic unions. The authors suggest that the absence of formal obligations makes it easier to leave such relationships, which reduces opportunities for control and manipulation.
The psychological well-being of friends-with-benefits participants turned out to be somewhat worse than that of people in serious relationships or single people. They more often experienced anxiety, depression and loneliness, although these differences were weakly pronounced. In clinical indicators (for example, suicidal thoughts) there were no differences from hookups.
The authors emphasize that their analysis does not allow them to assert that such relationships are what cause psychological problems. It is possible that people with pre-existing depression or low self-esteem more often choose this format. To establish cause-and-effect relationships, longitudinal studies tracking the same people over time are needed.
It is also noted that most of the studies were conducted on young white heterosexual college students, so the results may not extend to other age, cultural and social groups. The scientists call for standardization of measurement methods in future work.