An ethnographic study published in the journal Sexuality & Culture examined married spouses who attended a swinger convention.
PsyPost interviewed the author of the study, Claire Kimberly of the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg. Read her responses below:
PsyPost: Why were you interested in this topic?
Kimberly: My research interests have always surrounded romantic relationships. The swinging community intrigued me due to their ability to “go against” what society deems as a healthy romantic relationship and, yet, be relatively satisfied in their primary relationship.
What should the average person take away from your study?
This study focuses on the language and environment of the swinging lifestyle by reviewing experiences at a swinging convention. The privacy of the swinging community has made gaining information about them difficult so my hope was that this study could be an introduction for researchers wishing to investigate this community or for mental health practitioners working with someone in the lifestyle.
Are there any major caveats? What questions still need to be addressed?
This was an ethnography done on a single convention in the southeast region of the United States. There is little doubt that other areas of the country or world would have different experiences. Furthermore, the relatively little research available on the swinging lifestyle begs for further in-depth and quantitative analysis of this community.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Information gained from this convention and other sources resulted in an additional study that took a grounded theory approach to understanding the path to becoming a swinger and what techniques were used to maintain satisfaction in the primary relationship while being in this lifestyle. It can be found in the Archives of Sexual Behavior and is co-authored by Dr. Jason Hans.
The study was titled “Permission To Cheat: Ethnography of a Swingers’ Convention.”
