[socolais]

My thoughts on the corelation between permissiveness and commitment in the population of swingers

I did a quick google search and spent a few hours skimming various studies regarding sexual permissiveness and the preponderance of studies I found demonstrated a strong corelation across a wide cultural diversity. It's generally accepted that more permissiveness is strongly associated with lower commitment to the relationship. It would be easy to follow the indication of a large data set and assume it's applicability to the smaller population of successful swingers. I also noticed several of the studies showed a strong positive corelation between more permissiveness and less desirable social behaviors summarized as "loose morals". A reduced commitment to the marital relationship easily fits within that package of loose morals - a common stereotype.

I think it was my assumed probability of encountering loose morals among swingers that kept me on the other side of the fence for so many years. My limited initial observation of swingers quickly dispelled my assumption. Many conversations with active successful swingers on this forum and others locally (shall we say "face to face") easily convinced me that the corelation was strongly negative. That's not to say, more permissiveness "causes" stronger commitment. I believe a stronger commitment "allows" more permissiveness (additional factors may need to be addressed).

I believe the combination of strong marital commitment and relaxed permissiveness is a fundamental core concept of swinging as a recreational activity as practiced by couples.

Rachel, thanks again for this information.