Balancing Act: An Exploration into the Wellbeing of Bisexual+ People in Monogamous Relationships

Byrne, Sakura Persephone Louise (2024). Balancing Act: An Exploration into the Wellbeing of Bisexual+ People in Monogamous Relationships. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00098246

Abstract

Research has repeatedly documented high rates of mental distress among bisexual+ individuals. Moreover, bisexuality+ has continually been conceptualised in a plethora of negative ways, and Western views of gender and sexuality as dualistic in nature has led to the assumption that bisexual+ people are non-monogamous by necessity. Bisexual+ individuals are therefore conceptualised as always behaviourally/actively bisexual+. However, many bisexual+ individuals are engaged in monogamous relationships, yet their experiences have been under-researched. This thesis seeks to elucidate the experiences of bisexual+ people in monogamous relationships, and to explore how these experiences impact upon their wellbeing. Using a multi-modal methodological approach, the ways in which participants navigate their relationships whilst managing their wellbeing is both discursively and materially explored.

Fieldwork consisted of a focus group with six participants, and individual interviews with a further 25 participants. Thematic analysis of the focus group data was used to identify key areas of importance in the lived experience of monogamous bisexual+ people. The results of this analysis were used to develop the open-ended interview schedule. These interviews used photo-elicitation, thereby allowing participants to construct a narrative that incorporated their materialities. Phenomenologically-informed discourse analysis was used to interpret the interview data.

The results demonstrate that bisexual+ people in monogamous relationships undertake a complex balancing act in relation to their wellbeing. Participants were able to create spaces and networks within which they experienced themselves as embodied bisexual+ subjects, with their relationships often acting as safe havens that bolstered their wellbeing. However, tensions within participant discourses revealed experiences of discrimination and identity abuse within romantic relationships, which negatively impacted their wellbeing. Participants expressed the desire to incorporate their bisexuality+ into their materiality, but this was frequently invisibilised by the presence of a differently-gendered partner and by a lack of a clear understanding of bisexuality+ within society.

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