OkCupid Study Shows Sex Positivity and Open Relationships on the Rise
Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, December 23 2022 @ 10:04 am
Last modified on Friday, December 23 2022 @ 10:15 am
OkCupid recently surveyed its users regarding their attitudes about dating going into 2023, finding that singles are more interested in open relationships and discussions about sex.
OkCupid had nearly 10 billion responses to matching questions in 2022 which revealed what singles will be looking for in 2023.
In addition to the pandemic’s impact on dating habits in general, younger daters are driving conversation around mental health, sober dating, and attitudes towards relationships and sex, according to OkCupid’s blog[*1] . Open relationships have been around for a while, but now young daters are challenging the stigma that has always been attached to them. Over the summer, OkCupid found that there was a 26 percent increase in mentions of “ENM” or “ethical non-monogamy” compared to the beginning of 2022, and a 42 percent increase compared to last summer.
Attitudes towards open relationships have shifted globally – with 30 percent of OkCupid users saying they would be interested in an open relationship (about 8.5 million singles), with Gen Z and Millennial daters being the most interested in ENM. The numbers are highest among European daters, with 49 percent of singles in Spain saying they would consider an open relationship, 46 percent in Switzerland, 40 percent in the Netherlands, 39 percent in Germany, and 37 percent in Italy. Brazil, Australia, and Canada had 35 percent, 34 percent and 31 percent of users interested in open relationships, respectively.
Interestingly, 48 percent of users in India – almost half – said they were considering an open relationship. The country has a majority of singles who are under 30 years old and have more open attitudes about dating and sex then previous generations.
The pandemic shifted attitudes about sex, with daters less hesitant about hooking up after two years of lockdowns. In fact, about 31 percent of respondents said that right now, “sex” is more interesting than “love,” an increase from 26 percent in 2020. Daters are also being more adventurous with their sex lives, with 86 percent of singles in 2022 saying they were kinky when asked.
OkCupid noted that while singles are more adventurous when it comes to sex, they are also protecting themselves. In 2022, 71 percent of respondents said they always practice safe sex, and the daters who noted this in their profiles got 24 percent more likes and 17.5 percent more matches than people who say they never do.
Sober dating has also become a larger conversation since the pandemic, with many singles saying they would not only be open to sober dates, but sober relationships. In 2022, 96 percent of respondents said they were open to dating someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, up from 84 percent in 2012. In fact, 97 percent of Gen Z daters said they would be open to sober relationships.
For more on this dating service, check out our OkCupid review.