Who's Actually Into Polyamorous Relationships?
Research finds that polyamorists are a diverse group.
Posted December 16, 2025 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan
Generally speaking, polyamory involves having multiple romantic (and usually sexual ) relationships with the consent of everyone involved. This form of consensual non- monogamy is more common than you might think, with some studies finding that as many as 1 in 9 adults report having tried polyamory at some point in their lives.
So what do we know about who actually practices polyamory? In the popular media, polyamorists tend to be portrayed as a pretty homogeneous group, mostly consisting of young, wealthy, White liberals. But is that really the case?
To answer this question, some of my colleagues and I conducted a massive survey of people in polyamorous relationships. In fact, we surveyed more than 3,500 polyamorists in total! In order to see how the demographic backgrounds of polyamorists and monogamists compare, we also collected a separate sample of more than 1,300 people in monogamous relationships and published our findings in the Journal of Sex Research .
For purposes of this paper, we limited our comparisons only to those folks who were from the United States because a number of our demographic questions only applied to US participants (e.g., annual income in US dollars, political party affiliation, etc.).
Polyamorists are a Surprisingly Diverse Group
Overall, we found that polyamorists constituted a far more diverse group than the monogamists. For instance, while only 1% of monogamists reported non-binary gender identities, 7% of polyamorists did. Similarly, polyamorists were more than twice as likely to identify as bisexual , and more than five times as likely to identify as pansexual. Interestingly, however, the percentage of people who identified as gay or lesbian did not differ based on relationship type.
In terms of religious background, polyamorists were less likely to identify as Christian, but more likely to identify as atheist and to report religious identities outside of the dominant world religions. In addition, in terms of political background, polyamorists were less likely to identify as both Republican and Democrat, but more likely to identify as Libertarian, members of the Green party, and members of other political groups.
When it came to age, polyamorists and monogamists did not differ—both groups were age 35 on average. Also, the vast majority of both groups were White. The groups didn’t differ in terms of race or ethnicity , except that polyamorists were more likely to identify as Native American. Lastly, in terms of income, polyamorists were more likely to report earning less than $40,000/year compared to monogamists.
Polyamorists are Non-Conformists in Many Ways
Across the board, we found that, compared to monogamists, polyamorists were more likely to select the “other” option whenever that was an answer choice. This was true for questions concerning gender and sexual identity , as well as religious and political affiliation.
This suggests that polyamorists tend to be more non-conforming across the board. However, we can’t say whether that’s because people who are non-conformists in general are more likely to pursue polyamory, or whether being polyamorous might predispose people to be less conformist in other ways. Both explanations could potentially be true, of course.
While our results did not come from representative samples and more research is needed, these findings offer some revealing insights into who actually practices polyamory.
Our results suggest that the stereotype of polyamorists as young, White, wealthy liberals doesn’t necessarily match up with reality. Indeed, compared to monogamists, polyamorists were not any younger, Whiter, wealthier, or more likely to identify with the Democratic party.
This tells us that polyamorists as a group appear to be more diverse than they’re often portrayed in the media. They also tell us that people who practice polyamory tend to be non-conformists in several ways, not just in the way they structure and approach their relationships.
Facebook image: Phovoir/Shutterstock
Moors, A. C., Gesselman, A. N., & Garcia, J. R. (2021). Desire, familiarity, and engagement in polyamory: Results from a national sample of single adults in the United States. Frontiers in Psychology , 12 , 619640.
Balzarini, R. N., Dharma, C., Kohut, T., Holmes, B. M., Campbell, L., Lehmiller, J. J., & Harman, J. J. (2019). Demographic comparison of American individuals in polyamorous and monogamous relationships. The Journal of Sex Research , 56 (6), 681-694.
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Justin J. Lehmiller, Ph.D. , is a Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.