News Finding: "Typically, sociosexually unrestricted individuals (i.e., those highly oriented toward casual sex) reported lower distress and higher thriving following casual sex, suggesting that high sociosexuality may both buffer against any potentially harmful consequences of casual sex and allow access to its potential benefits," the researchers write.
Paper Finding: Typically, sociosexually unrestricted individuals (i.e., those highly oriented toward casual sex) reported lower distress and higher thriving following casual sex, suggesting that high sociosexuality may both buffer against any potentially harmful consequences of casual sex and allow access to its potential benefits.
News Context: When it came to those who were sociosexually unrestricted, having casual sex was associated with higher self-esteem and life satisfaction and lower depression and anxiety. "Typically, sociosexually unrestricted individuals (i.e., those highly oriented toward casual sex) reported lower distress and higher thriving following casual sex, suggesting that high sociosexuality may both buffer against any potentially harmful consequences of casual sex and allow access to its potential benefits," the researchers write. Additionally, feelings of authenticity "amplified" the beneficial psychological effects, but did not spur them, as hypothesized.
Paper Context: Instead, support was found for the hypothesized interaction with sociosexuality for most well-being indicators across all analyses, suggesting the effects of casual sex depend on the extent to which this behavior is congruent with one's general personality tendencies and reproductive strategies. Typically, sociosexually unrestricted individuals (i.e., those highly oriented toward casual sex) reported lower distress and higher thriving following casual sex, suggesting that high sociosexuality may both buffer against any potentially harmful consequences of casual sex and allow access to its potential benefits. These results integrate within a personality framework prior findings of more positive emotional reactions following casual sex among those with greater interest in or approval of casual sex and lower well-being among those who engage in it for nonautonomous reasons .