Romantic Functioning of BDSM Practitioners: Equal to General Population

Winner of the Judge’s Choice Award - 1st place

Sara Gray et al.

BDSM is a compound acronym referring to consensual practices involving bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism. This study investigates how BDSM practitioners compare to college students and Mechanical Turk workers in terms of their satisfaction in romantic relationships and likelihood of using three conflict resolution tactics with patterns (i.e., negotiation, psychological aggression, and physical assault). Data were collected from the three groups listed above; however, Mechanical Turk workers were split in two: Mechanical Turk workers with BDSM interest and Mechanical Turk workers without BDSM interest. There were no differences between the samples in relationship satisfaction or negotiation use. However, there were differences in psychological aggression and physical assault, even when controlling for significant demographics. For both psychological aggression and physical assault, BDSM practitioners were equal to college students and Mechanical Turk workers without BDSM interest but lower than Mechanical Turk workers with BDSM interest. Accordingly, BDSM practitioners are no different from non-practitioners in several aspects of relationship functioning. This is important to acknowledge because of the negative stereotypes surrounding the BDSM community and the discrimination that can result.

• From Newberry, Sara Gray is a junior psychology major with a minor in computer information systems. She is a member of the Honors College and Psi Chi National Honor Society. She is also a Teaching Assistant for the Research Methods in Psychology class, and continuing work on a psychological manuscript.