Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy

by Jessica Fern

In a survey conducted with over 1,300 people, Moors, Conley, Edelstein and Chopik examined whether there were any differences in attachment styles for people who were either in monogamous, swinging or polyamorous relationships.55 They found that there was no difference in attachment anxiety levels between people who were monogamous versus those that were CNM, and that people in CNM relationships were actually lower in attachment avoidance than the people in monogamous relationships were. This research suggests that people in CNM relationships exhibit characteristics of secure attachment, maybe even more so than people in monogamous relationships. A smaller study of 179 gay men similarly found no difference in attachment styles between the participants who were in monogamous relationships and those in nonmonogamous relationships.