The research was based on the Google Trends of hundreds of thousands of Americans and search terms related to polyamory and open relationships, between 2006 and 2015.
Amy Moors, director of social science research and evaluation at Purdue University, says the data shows there has been an increase in people searching for information about this kind of relationship.
Some media commentators and scholars have also recently suggested that the rules of romance are changing, with popular culture influencing the growing curiosity.
“Several of the large spikes in Internet searches related to polyamory and open relationships are tied to popular TV shows and press,” Moors said.
“Consensually non-monogamous relationships will become more mainstream,” Moors believes. She also said that, “many people have been engaging in polyamory, open relationships, and swinging for years, but remain closeted due to fear of stigma and discrimination.”
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