Casual Relationships Can Have Benefits and Risks
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All relationships are different, including casual ones.
The term “casual relationship” is decidedly vague.
According to experts, there are four main types of casual relationships that people may experience.
Wiktor Karkocha / Unsplash
But what might be surprising to some is that they also appear to benefit the people engaging in them.
At a Glance
Casual relationships can involve physical and emotional connections, including casual sex.
However, such relationships don’t include the expectations or demands of a more formal, committed romantic relationship.
A one-night stand is, by definition, a single contact that goes no further.
Once the contact becomes repetitive, the relationship is in booty call, sex buddy, or FWB territory.
key in of Contact
Some relationships are sexual only, and others are both sexual and social.
People in one-night stand and booty call relationships only have sexual contact.
Sex buddies and friends with benefits, on the other hand, share both sexual and social contacts.
Social contact means that the people in the relationship can see each other in non-sexual contexts.
They can be part of the samesocial circleor even be friends.
Discussion of Relationship
This characteristic is not exactly like personal disclosure, although they are similar.
According to the research, only friends with benefits discuss their relationship.
Friendship
Casual relationships have three friendship levels: none, resultant, and pre-existing.
People in one-night stands and booty call relationships tend not to share a friendship with each other.
Sex buddiesbecomefriends after the relationship starts.
Friends with benefits are friendsbeforethey begin their sexual relationship.
Casual relationships are more complex than most people think.
There are different levels of personal and social engagement, as well as different pathways towards longer-term relationships.
Students often said that they didn’t have the time or energy to develop long-term, emotionally committed relationships.
They also talked about how the party culture normalized casual relationships.
Casual Relationships Can Have Downsides
This study also found a few negative aspects of casual relationships.
One major concern was the risk of ruining friendships with sex.
Previously platonic relationships can get more complicated when sex leads to other emotions.
Unrequited feelings may also increase the risk of the relationship becomingone-sided.
How can you manage the possible risks of casual relationships?
Researchers suggest that good communication can mitigate many of these issues.
Post-FWB Friendships
You might wonder what happens to the friendship after the “with benefits” ends.
While some might transition to a more committed relationship, most don’t.
From asex-positive perspective, casual relationships can be fun and satisfyingas long as everything is consensual.
This happens most commonly after the end of a long-term relationship.
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Kreiner H, Levi-Belz Y.Self-disclosure here and now: Combining retrospective perceived assessment with dynamic behavioral measures.Front Psychol.
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