Personality correlates of ex-swingers

Thirty ex-swinger couples were questioned concerning relationships with parents, autonomy, attitudes toward the establishment, attitudes toward friends versus relatives, and personal adequacy. Their responses were compared with those from a current swinger's group (N = 100) and from a control group (N = 100) of couples drawn from earler work by Gilmartin. It was hypothesized that there would be few differences between ex-swinger men and swinging men but many between ex-swinger men and control men. It also was predicted that ex-swinger men compared to control men would report poorer relationships with parents, more autonomy, more anti-establishment attitudes, and more interest in friends than relatives. All groups were predicted to show few differences in personal adequacy. Ex-swinger women were predicted to be between swinging and control women concerning the above personality variables. Hypotheses were generally supported.Address reprint requests to: Bernard I. Murstein, Box 1581, Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320.