What is Open relationship?
Open Relationship means having more than one sexual partner. Although, you generally have more romantically committed to one.
In open relationship, there are many pros and cons of an open relationship. Human nature is complex, it is difficult to understand them Human tend to follow few norms and rules, so that they get accepted in society.
With the advent of globalization as well as exposure to other ways of doing things, few people tend to get into open relationship. There are both pros and cons of an open relationship. It all depends on how people involved approach it so that benefits of open relationship outweigh the downside.
All relationship expect few forms of reciprocity as well as self-disclosure in order to create intimacy. According to psychology overview of prosocial behavior describes, we are almost constantly evaluation both cost as well as benefits of all relationships we experience.
As we are more interested to maximize our benefits, people find themselves looking for options outside the monogamy. More or less, few people are in search of perfect blend of intimacy, passion as well as commitment. For few people, the pros as well as cons of open relation are very balanced, hence they tend to feel fulfilled in all the 3 aspects of those areas.
As per the research, it has been found that, people are equally happy in functioning monogamous relationship as they are in functioning in open one. The key is to have a goal for getting into an open relationship rather than diving in blindly.
Few of the typical goals could be to deal with sexual incompatibilities, to explore commitment before marriage or even to save the relationship. The pros and cons of an open relation are varied.
Pros of open relationship
Open Relationship means having more than one sexual partner. Although, you may be generally more romantically committed to one.
In open relationship, there are many pros and cons of an open relationship. Human nature is complex, it is difficult to understand them Human tend to follow few norms and rules, so that they get accepted in society.
It is hard relying on one person to meet all your emotional needs, especially because they might require something different to what you require at any given moment. That is often the key driver for people who wish to deal with the pros and cons of an open relationship.
When it comes to emotional needs, we have a wide range of them. These include validation, connection, acceptance among others. Of course, these can be met through monogamy. Nevertheless, with the pros of having an open relationship. You will get more of them.
• Meet all your sexual needs
Intimacy as well as sex are different. Those of us, who treat them as the same would probably struggle with the pros as well as cons of an open relationship. On the flip side, those who have strong boundaries between intimacy as well as sex are much better able to compartmentalize. In other words, they do not get jealous, when their partner tend to have sex with someone else.
• Create deeper bond
Open relationship can help bring closer to your primary partners. Imagine being able to talk about any of your deepest desires as well as fantasies with your partner and still act on them.
You also tend to have excitement of having someone new in your life which you can openly talk about. Communication and sharing is essential, this would help bring closer and help overcome any drawback of an open relationship.
• Reasonable expectation
Monogamous relationship come with lots of expectations. On other hand, working through the pros and cons of an open relationship can be liberating. It is case of shared responsibility with more than one partner.
• Openness
Numerous couple tend to go through great heartache because of cheating of their partner. Facing the pros as well as cons of an open relationship does not remove mental issues, but it can mean better communication and connection. Issues in those topics, which are often the main drivers behind infidelity.
• More connections
In monogamous relationship, you might sometimes feel very stifling especially if you tend to do everything together. Instead, managing both, pros as well as cons of an open relation will help you have more people in your life.
You can also explore as well as experience intimacy with more than one individual, very much you would with your close friends.
• Get to Know yourself
To develop rules to balance both pros and cons of an open relationship does take time as well as effort from both partners. Through this process, you would tend to learn more about your needs, desires as well as boundaries.
• Better Communication
Open relationship help individuals to communicate both honestly as well openly. With both pros as well as cons of open relationship, you would be able to share far more about yourself and your preference.
• Fun
Playfulness and fun often tend to keep the open relationship in balance. It is perfectly ok to have a fear of missing out and to want adventure In your life especially when both of you are willing to try open relationship.
Disadvantage of open relationship
• Fear
One of the key drawback of an open relationship Is the emotional whirlwind, you might have to deal with. If you tend to want your partner for yourself, a relationship might trigger too much anxiety and fear.
• Jealous
You might get envious of your partner's other person, if you rely more on the primary relationship than they do. Often this insecurity comes from low self-esteem and fear of uncertainty
• Risk of Disease
one of the scarier cons of an open relationship is the risk of STD's, even though, this one is relatively easy to mitigate with protection and mutual trust around the rules.
• Secrecy
Without a solid foundation of trust and boundaries, it can be tempting to start lying about the other partner. Suddenly, the primary relationship becomes secondary and what started as honesty becomes infidelity.
• Crazy logistics
Dealing with one partner can be difficult enough, here you need to manage more than one, including the various dates and outings.
Add to that, all the expectations from your job, children and everything else in your life and you might be missing out on your needs and along time.
• Different expectations
Sometimes, the pros as well as cons of an open relationship cannot be balanced because both partners have different assumptions. If you cannot align your belief about relationship, then an open one could just cause pain and suffering.
• Existential angst
It can be very devasting to be overwhelmed with questions about who you are and where you fit in. if this is caused by being ostracize by society for being in an open relationship, you might doubt if it is right thing for you.
• Stress and anxiety avoidance
Blocking our emotions and pretending we are ok with open relationship pros and cons will only accentuate our stress and anxiety. This lack of vulnerability can lead to mental issues as well as breakdowns, which include perhaps your primary relationship.
• Priority issues
Time management can stress open relations pros and cons. For example, you might start not putting enough time and effort into your primary relationship. Everyone demand attention, but prioritization game can be too much for some couples.
• Expensive
Let's not forget the practicalities of life, when we review the pros and cons of an open relationship. You would have at least twice the amount of birthday presents give. That does not include the dinners and other events you might have to pay for.