Researching Romantic Relationships with Non-Asexual Partners

[michaeld]

Hi all,

We got the following research request from Christina Mitrofanis of Widener University.

 

Do you identify as asexual? Are you currently in a romantic relationship with an allosexual or non-asexual partner? Consider participating in a research study!

 

Research Description: I am researching the romantic relationship experiences of self-identified asexual individuals who enter into romantic relationships with allosexual or non-asexual partners. Specifically, I am researching the ways that intimacy is navigated and negotiated in these relationships. You will be asked to participate in a virtual interview conducted over Zoom. Your participation will probably take between 45 minutes and 2 hours.

 

To Participate: You must be at least 18 years old, identify as asexual, be in a current romantic relationship with an allosexual or non-asexual partner, and be willing to discuss your personal relationship experiences.

 

Participants who complete the interview will receive compensation for their time in the form of a $15 gift card.

 

To learn more about this study, including possible risks and benefits of participation, please contact the principal investigator, Christina Mitrofanis (student) at (917) 930-8562 or cmitrofanis@widener.edu. If you are interested in participating in this research study, please reach out to cmitrofanis@widener.edu with the subject line “Interested Research Participant”.

 

The faculty advisor is Dr. Sanjay Nath, Psychology Department, Widener University.

 

 

The study has been approved by both the Widener University Institutional Review Board and the AVEN Project Team.

 

I am happy to try to answer questions and Christina - @CMitrofanis - is also around to help.

 

Michael

(on behalf of the AVEN PT)

[CMitrofanis]

Thank you Michael!

 

Just a note that 2 hours is the absolute upper limit for how long we're expecting interviews to go; we're expecting most interviews to be closer to 1 hour or so in length.

 

If anyone has any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them here!

[Hurta]

Hello there! I am, sadly, not in a relationship, but I’d be glad to help with anything else.

[naturerhythms]

Very excited to see research being done on this. It's a frequent topic of conversation (from the allosexual partners' perspective) in the "For Sexual Partners, Friends, and Allies" subforum. Best wishes with your study!

[Alex.M]

I'm currently in a relationship with a partner who considers himself demisexual yet doesn't identify as asexual. Prior to this I had another long term relationship with an allosexual partner. Would this be relevant for the study?

[CMitrofanis]

17 hours ago, Alex.M said:

I'm currently in a relationship with a partner who considers himself demisexual yet doesn't identify as asexual. Prior to this I had another long term relationship with an allosexual partner. Would this be relevant for the study?

Yes, this would be relevant! If you’re interested in participating, please feel free to reach out to my email cmitrofanis@widener.edu.

 

Thank you @Hurts and @naturerhythms for your interest! If you’re interested in helping, feel free to circulate this thread to anyone who you think may be interested in participating; that would go a long way!

[Guest]

I'm married to an asexual. I had my 26 the wedding anniversary a few days ago. A sad reminder of my complete ignorance. If only I had known... My husband is a real treasure, but had I known ... Well maybe there would have been a completely different story.  I tell myself we're not I'll so that's ok, but knowledge is choice. The lack of it just brings you down.

[CMitrofanis]

1 hour ago, Dumb said:

I'm married to an asexual. I had my 26 the wedding anniversary a few days ago. A sad reminder of my complete ignorance. If only I had known... My husband is a real treasure, but had I known ... Well maybe there would have been a completely different story.  I tell myself we're not I'll so that's ok, but knowledge is choice. The lack of it just brings you down.

I'm sorry to hear this is bringing you pain right now. I think you might find the subforum naturerhythms mentions above, "For Sexual Partners, Friends, and Allies" to be a good place to reach out for support at this time. My best wishes to the both of you as you navigate this part of you relationship.

[Aayesha]

I'm 59, cis-female with a history of both male and female partners, and in the process of amicably ending a 30 year marriage with my husband. I'm not sex repulsed, but I've always considered sex as the currency I exchanged for love and intimacy. I also have submissive tendencies where I find emotional gratification in pleasing my partner and I bask in praise for it, but physically it doesn't do anything for me. My husband and I were a poor match in that regard as most of his pleasure involves physically pleasing his partner, and his efforts made me increasingly uncomfortable. For the last half of our marriage, we stopped attempting sex between us entirely and he has had ongoing relationships with several poly partners with my blessing. Indeed, once our child was grown, we bought a new home chosen to comfortably accommodate him and his primary partner who both work from home, and myself. I was less pleased when they wanted to remodel to create space to house her lover, and when his elderly and infirm mother had to be moved in with us on very short notice. As I do not work due to a disability, I ended up as the default primary provider of elder care which was more stress than I could handle. I am now much more comfortable living alone in an apartment nearby, and sadly my MIL passed away a few months after I relocated. While my husband and I no longer consider our relationship that of spouses and will eventually deal with the formal paperwork for a dissolution, I am still considered a part of the polycule that includes their household and four others in a stable set of entwined and extended relationships among 12 core people that has lasted for years. If it won't skew your data too badly, please feel free to contact me if you are interested in an interview. 

[CMitrofanis]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still recruiting participants, if anyone else is interested. I'm hoping to schedule 2-4 more interviews over the next month or so.

 

For everyone who has already shown interest in this research, thank you so much!

[Aelfwin]

On 6/26/2021 at 1:51 PM, CMitrofanis said:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still recruiting participants, if anyone else is interested. I'm hoping to schedule 2-4 more interviews over the next month or so.

 

For everyone who has already shown interest in this research, thank you so much!

Quick question:
Are you looking to interview just the asexual partner in the relationship, or both partners?

[CMitrofanis]

@Aelfwin Right now we are just looking to interview the asexual partner! Future research might expand on that to include non-asexual partners but not for this particular study.

[Kitty_Ace]

I'm definitely interested. I will reach out to the email provided. Thank you!