New study challenges the ‘monogamy-superiority myth’, as non-monogamous people report just as happy relationships and sex lives

Analysis of 35 studies involving 24,489 people across the U.S. and Europe, demonstrate no significant differences between individuals in monogamous and non-monogamous relationships

Taylor & Francis Group

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Monogamous and non-monogamous individuals report similar levels of satisfaction in both their relationships and sex lives, according to a comprehensive new meta-analysis.

Published today in The Journal of Sex Research, the peer-reviewed study debunks the prevailing belief that monogamous relationships – defined as exclusive romantic and sexual commitment to one partner – are inherently superior in fostering fulfilling relationships compared to alternative structures.

While monogamy has been the predominant type of relationship in much of recent Western history, many individuals choose alternative structures. Non-monogamy includes various consensual arrangements, such as open relationships – where couples maintain romantic but not sexual exclusivity – and polyamory, which involves having several romantic relationships simultaneously.

The study, which analysed data from 35 studies involving 24,489 people in the United States, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Italy, and other countries, found no significant differences in relationship or sexual satisfaction levels between individuals in monogamous and non-monogamous relationships.  

“Monogamous relationships are often assumed to offer greater satisfaction, intimacy, commitment, passion and trust than non-monogamous ones. This widespread belief – what we term as the ‘monogamy-superiority myth’ – is often reinforced by stereotypes and media narratives,” says lead author, Associate Professor Joel Anderson, a Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sexuality, Health, and Society situated at La Trobe University.

“Our findings challenge this long-standing assumption outside of academia, providing further evidence that people in consensually non-monogamous relationships experience similar levels of satisfaction in their relationships and sex lives as those in monogamous ones.

“Our theory as to why these findings have occurred, perhaps, is down to what we’d argue is the most common issues in relationships – and certainly the most common factor in relationship breakdown – infidelity. People in non-monogamous relationships often have agreements with their partner/s which mean infidelity isn’t a relevant factor in their relationships, whereas it is naturally heartbreaking experience for those in monogamous relationships.”

Sub-group analyses revealed that satisfaction levels remained consistent across different demographics, including LGBTQ+ and heterosexual participants, as well as among different types of consensual non-monogamous arrangements, such as open relationships and polyamory, or relationship satisfaction dimensions such as trust, commitment or intimacy.

“Romantic and sexual satisfaction significantly contribute to our overall well-being. These results call into question some of the common misconceptions about non-monogamy. Despite our findings demonstrating comparable satisfaction levels, people in non-monogamous relationships often face stigma, discrimination, and barriers to accessing supportive healthcare and legal recognition.

“What we see is that those non-monogamous relationships have great relationships and great sex, in spite of the fact that their relationships come under scrutiny in most societies, and in spite of the fact that they experience differential or even prejudiced treatment because of their relationships structures, which are viewed as out of the norm,” adds Professor Anderson, a social psychologist whose primary interests revolve around LGBTQ health and well-being.

“This study highlights the need for more inclusive perspectives on different relationship structures. Healthcare professionals, therapists, and policymakers must recognize and support diverse relationship structures rather than assuming monogamy as the default or ideal.”

Limitations of this study include a reliance on online sampling, which may reduce its representativeness and generalizability.
Moreover, all studies used self-reported data, which may introduce bias in groups who have experienced stigma and may seek to justify their choices. Additionally, the focus on Western countries limits insights into differing cultural perspectives on non-monogamy.

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Journal

The Journal of Sex Research

DOI

10.1080/00224499.2025.2462988 

Article Title

Countering the Monogamy-Superiority Myth: A Meta-Analysis of the Differences in Relationship Satisfaction and Sexual Satisfaction as a Function of Relationship Orientation

Article Publication Date

26-Mar-2025

 

Tadpoles try to flee dangerous virus in their pond by growing much faster than normal

Larvae of wood frogs respond to presence of deadly ranavirus by growing and maturing precociously

Frontiers

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Catching tadpoles of the wood frog with a net

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Credit: Logan Billet

The world’s amphibians are in trouble. Because of their sensitivity to climate change, habitat loss, and pollution, they may be the canary in the coalmine for the nascent anthropogenic mass extinction. Approximately 200 amphibian species have become extinct since the 1970s, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that 34% of the 7,296 known remaining species are likewise at risk.

Another reason why amphibians are vulnerable is their susceptibility to disease. An emerging, potentially deadly disease of frogs and salamanders is ranavirus, a genus of at least seven species within the family Iridoviridae. Ranavirus can rapidly jump from host to host among fish, amphibians, and reptiles: a flexibility that can have catastrophic consequences, if new host species haven’t yet evolved any immunity.

But as a new study in Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science has now shown, amphibians aren’t entirely defenseless against ranavirus.

“Here we show that in response to ranavirus, wood frog tadpoles change their growth, development, and resource allocation. This may help tadpoles tolerate the energetic demands of infection or escape risky environments to avoid infection entirely,” said Logan Billet, a PhD student at Yale University and the study’s first author.

Ranavirus has been implicated in 40 to 60% of amphibian die-offs in the US. Infected larvae stop feeding and become lethargic, while swimming abnormally and bleeding internally. An outbreak often leads to the death of all larvae in a pond, and there is evidence that outbreaks are becoming more frequent due to climate change.

Small frog in a big pond

Between 2021 and 2023, the authors studied the growth and development of the wood frog Rana sylvatica in a forest in Connecticut. Wood frogs are so-called ‘explosive’ breeders in ponds formed from snowmelt. They compared three pond types: 35 which remained free from ranavirus over an entire season; seven which contained some infected tadpoles but saw little or no mortality; and five with an outbreak that killed off the entire cohort.

From mid-April to mid-July, the researchers regularly visited ponds to estimate the number of live and dead individuals. They collected up to 20 tadpoles from each and humanely euthanized them. In the laboratory, they determined the presence or absence of ranavirus in the liver of 1,583 of these with quantitative real-time PCR. They also measured the total length of 4,299 tadpoles and determined their developmental stage – the so-called Gosner stage, which ranges from zero for embryos to 42 for tadpoles on the brink of metamorphosis.

Because of the life-history plasticity common to many amphibians, growth and development can vary independently: for example, tadpoles may grow slowly and thus be smaller than average, yet relatively large for their Gosner stage due to lagging development.

The results showed that tadpoles in ‘die-off’ ponds at first grew significantly faster, which led to a larger body size over the first month of life. Tadpoles also matured faster in die-off ponds, being on average 0.38 stages ahead in their development. But once mass mortality started, the rate of growth and development in these pools crashed, so that they were overtaken in body size and stage by those in uninfected or uninfected ponds, and ended up small for their stage at their death from the disease.

Similarly, in infected ponds that ultimately saw no die-off, tadpoles grew significantly faster and developed precociously over the first month of life, so that they were larger in body size as well as on average 1.7 Gosner stages ahead of tadpoles in uninfected ponds.

Being frogmarched throughout development

The authors conclude that tadpoles respond to the presence of ranavirus by speeding up their growth rate and progressing through successive developmental stages faster early in life.

“Accelerating growth and resource allocation early on may allow tadpoles to improve their physical condition, and thus the strength of their immunity, in anticipation of infection. They might also metamorphose and move onto land earlier, potentially reducing their exposure to ranavirus,” said senior author Dr David Skelly, a professor at the Peabody Museum and Billet’s doctoral supervisor.

“These responses are likely to give tadpoles a survival advantage. We hypothesize they are the reason why mortality wasn’t always 100%, but only partial in some outbreaks in our study.”

“What we don’t yet know is how tadpoles detect ranavirus in their environment, for example through chemical or visual cues, and how effective these responses improve survival or tolerance of infection. Controlled experiments will be important to address these questions,” said Billet.

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Journal

Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science

DOI

10.3389/famrs.2025.1529060 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Sublethal effects of a mass mortality agent: pathogen-mediated plasticity of growth and development in a widespread North American amphibian

Article Publication Date

26-Mar-2025

  

Caption

An adult wood frog

Two wood frog tadpoles collected in a dipnet sweep showing signs of disease, including internal bleeding and fluid retention

An aggregation of wood frog egg masses in a pond following spring breeding. Wood frogs are explosive, synchronous breeders that arrive at temporary freshwater ponds soon after snowmelt to reproduce

Recently emerged wood frog hatchlings sitting on the remnants of their egg mass

Close-up view of a wood frog egg mass

Credit

Logan Billet

 

Build it and they shall come

Examining the effects of the ONIKURU multifunctional facility on daily walking time

Osaka Metropolitan University

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The opening of this multifunctional facility influenced changes in visitors’ daily activity.

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Credit: Ibaraki City Government, Osaka

Designing walkable neighborhoods has gained attention as a method to increase physical activity among urban populations. Moreover, highly walkable areas stimulate increased neighborhood retail sales, higher property values, and greater urban sustainability. However, only limited methods are available for improving walkability in the urban centers of highly motorized suburban cities. In the urban areas of suburban cities, increasing land-use diversity by opening a multifunctional facility is considered one of the most effective strategies for an architecture-scale intervention.

Dr. Haruka Kato, a junior associate professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, examined the impact of a new multifunctional facility on residents’ daily walking time. This experiment analyzed the case of the Ibaraki City Cultural and Childcare Complex ONIKURU, a public multifunctional facility designed by famed Japanese architect Toyo Ito.

The results revealed that the opening of ONIKURU significantly increased the average walking time of visitors by 3.165 min/day compared to non-visitors. Specifically, visitors’ average walking time improved to a level comparable to non-visitors’ after the facility opened. In addition, the opening of the facility significantly increased female young adults’ average walking time by 3.385 min/day. Therefore, this study provides theoretical contributions to building a health-promoting environment that affects walking through architecture-scale intervention.

“These findings highlight essential considerations for urban planners aiming to design health-promoting built environments in urban centers,” said Dr. Kato. “This research used GPS-trajectory data, which succeeded in calculating the effect of one multifunctional facility among many land uses from the perspective of average daily walking time. This contribution provided significant insights into the causality between land use and physical activity.”

The findings were published in Scientific Reports.

###

About OMU 

Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-82232-x 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Daily walking time effects of the opening of a multifunctional facility “ONIKURU” using propensity score matching and GPS tracking techniques

 

How elephants plan their journeys: New study reveals energy-saving strategies

University of Oxford

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African Elephant with GPS tracker. Credit Jane Wynyard (Save The Elephants).

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Credit: Jane Wynyard (Save The Elephants).

A new study has revealed that African Elephants have an extraordinary ability to meet their colossal food requirements as efficiently as possible. Data from over 150 elephants demonstrated that these giants plan their journeys based on energy costs and resource availability. The findings – published today (26 March) in the Journal of Animal Ecology– could provide crucial information to help protect these iconic animals and their habitats.

Being an elephant is no easy task. As massive herbivores weighing several tons, they must consume vast amounts of low-calorie vegetation every day. However, their sheer size means that moving around to find food costs significant physical effort. Literally every step matters—especially in the vast, often harsh landscapes they traverse.

Understanding how elephants move through the landscape is essential for designing effective conservation strategies, particularly as habitat fragmentation and human activities continue to threaten populations. But up to now, key drivers behind elephant movements have been unclear.

The new study, led by researchers from the University of Oxford, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), and Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, used GPS tracking data from 157 African elephants collected over a 22-year period (1998–2020) in Northern Kenya. Data was collected by Save the Elephants, a UK-registered, Kenya-based research and conservation charity.

Key findings:

• Elephants strongly prefer landscapes with lower movement costs, with 94% of the elephants studied avoiding steep slopes and rough terrain. This suggests they are aware of their surroundings and make cost-benefit decisions to choose the most energy-efficient paths.
• Elephants actively select areas with higher vegetation productivity, with 93% indicating a preference for resource-rich environments.
• Water sources play a role in where elephants choose to go, but individual elephants can respond differently. Some remain close to water sources, while others roam farther, showing that their movement choices are more complex than travelling to the nearest river or pond.
• Elephants moving at speed show an even stronger avoidance of difficult, more energetically-costly terrain. 74% of individuals avoided costly areas when moving slowly, which increased to 87% when moving at intermediate speeds and to 93% when moving fast. This suggests the animals carefully balance effort and energy efficiency, especially during long journeys.

According to the researchers, the elephants’ behaviour is comparable to birds appearing to deliberately use favourable thermal uplifts to reduce the energetic costs of flying.

To analyse the elephant tracking data the research team employed an innovative modelling method called ENERSCAPE, which estimates the energy costs of movement based on body mass and terrain slope. By integrating these estimates with satellite data on vegetation productivity and water availability, they built detailed energy landscapes that help explain elephants' movement decisions.

A statistical approach called step-selection functions was used to assess how the elephants chose their paths. This technique compares the locations that elephants actually visited with other nearby areas they could have chosen but did not. By doing so, the researchers identified which environmental factors play a role in elephants’ movement decisions and habitat selection.

These findings have direct applications for wildlife conservation, and could help guide the design of protected areas and migration corridors to reduce conflict with humans. The study also suggests that conservation strategies should account for individual differences in habitat preferences, particularly concerning water access.

The results could also help predict how elephant movements may respond to climate change, which affects both the energy costs of moving, and the availability of food and water.

In the future, the researchers aim to refine energy landscape models by incorporating additional factors such as seasonal changes, human disturbances, and the impact of climate change on elephant movements.

Co-author Professor Fritz Vollrath (University of Oxford) said: “While more detailed research is needed to fully understand how an elephant uses its habitat, this study identifies a central decision-making factor for travelling elephants: save energy whenever possible.”

Lead researcher Dr Emilio Berti (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) added: “These new results have important implications for assessing and planning conservation and restoration measures, such as dispersal corridors, by explicitly accounting for the energy costs of moving.”

Notes to editors:

For media inquiries and interview requests, contact Caroline Wood: caroline.wood@admin.ox.ac.uk  

Images related to this study for use in articles are available at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wqdcMnrHbHx9sgxVX1me4t-JfLF90x1u?usp=sharing  These are for editorial purposes relating to this press release ONLY and MUST be credited (see file name). They MUST NOT be sold on to third parties.

The study ‘Energy landscapes direct the movement preferences of elephants’ will be published in Journal of Animal Ecology at 05:01 GMT / 01:01 ET Wednesday 26 March 2025 at https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70023 To view a copy of the paper before this under embargo, contact Caroline Wood: caroline.wood@admin.ox.ac.uk

About the University of Oxford:

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the ninth year running, and ​number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.

Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19, and supports more than 28,000 full time jobs.

The Department of Biology is a University of Oxford department within the Maths, Physical, and Life Sciences Division. It utilises academic strength in a broad range of bioscience disciplines to tackle global challenges such as food security, biodiversity loss, climate change, and global pandemics. It also helps to train and equip the biologists of the future through holistic undergraduate and graduate courses. For more information visit www.biology.ox.ac.uk.

Elephants Crossing Ewaso Ewaso Ng'iro river, Samburu, Kenya. Credit Fritz Vollrath.

Credit

Fritz Vollrath.

Journal

Journal of Animal Ecology

DOI

10.1111/1365-2656.70023 

Article Title

Energy landscapes direct the movement preferences of elephants

Article Publication Date

26-Mar-2025

 

Virtual reality videos increase environmental awareness

University of Cologne

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A group of media psychologists at the University of Cologne, led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar, has examined the effects of presenting environmental protection documentaries by way of 360° virtual reality (VR) videos compared with the use of other more traditional media forms. VR videos are interactive 360° videos that allow viewers to immerse themselves in a digital environment and explore it from different angles, often with the help of VR headsets or glasses. According to the study participants, virtual reality increased the feeling of being intensively involved in the narrative. This, in turn, led to an increased motivation to protect the environment and a greater willingness to donate. The psychologists published their findings in the article ‘Virtual reality versus classic presentations of mass media campaigns: Effectiveness and psychological mechanisms using the example of environmental protection’ in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

Convincing people to engage with issues and problems that seem geographically and emotionally distant is one of the biggest challenges for organizations working to protect the environment. Virtual reality is becoming increasingly important as a tool to promote charitable causes, such as fundraising campaigns. The researchers led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cologne wanted to investigate this effect in detail. In this study, they showed three documentaries to 128 participants, who had been randomly assigned to four different groups:  one group was presented with the documentaries as 360° VR videos, a second group watched them as 2D videos on a TV, a third group only listened to the audio track, like a podcast, and a fourth group read a corresponding text.

After each documentary, the participants rated their subjective feeling of having been physically present in the depicted scene, their feeling of having been intensively involved in the narrative, and the affective impact of the documentaries. Participants were also asked about their own motivation for wanting to protect the environment and how much they would be willing to donate to the presented campaign.

The results of the experiment show that virtual reality evoked stronger feelings of being physically present in the depicted scene, of being transported by the narrative, and also a stronger positive emotional affect in comparison with the other forms of presentation.

The study therefore emphasizes the particular potential of virtual reality as a medium for presenting environmental protection campaigns and the importance of the narrative in this context. “Using virtual reality for storytelling, in this case for environmental protection campaigns, can have a significant effect. This immersive experience can potentially have a greater impact on personal attitudes and behavioural intentions than more traditional media,” says Professor Kaspar. “Our findings are therefore valuable for media experts and organizations but also for researchers because previous media impact models will need to be updated or expanded accordingly.”

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Journal

Computers in Human Behavior

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Virtual reality versus classic presentations of mass media campaigns: Effectiveness and psychological mechanisms using the example of environmental protection

Article Publication Date

24-Mar-2025