Casual sexual relationships (CSRs) are common among young adults. Although it is a widely discussed topic in the popular media, little empirical work has examined the expectations related to communication within these relationships. Moreover, few studies have made comparative examinations across various relationship types. Through two studies, we first identified the differences in communication, satisfaction, and commitment across relationship types. Then we examined communication frequency as a regulator of satisfaction and commitment across relationship types. In Study 1, participants responded to a hypothetical relationship scenario depicting either a committed relationship (CR), friends with benefits (FWB), or a booty call/fuck buddy relationship (BC/FB); they indicated how committed and satisfied they would feel as well as how frequently they would communicate with the partner. Participants in Study 2 reported on these variables in their most recently terminated relationship. Overall, we found the highest frequencies of commitment and communication in CRs; BCs/FBs and other similar CSRs had the lowest. FWBs often fell between the other two categories. Satisfaction did not differ reliably across relationship types. A serial mediational analysis revealed that the more a relationship was considered to be a CR, the more partners communicated, which was associated with more satisfaction and, in turn, commitment. Our findings highlight the distinctions between expectations within FWB relationships, compared to other relationships types, suggesting that they fall somewhere between CRs and other CSRs on commitment and relational expectations. In addition, the results support the idea that individuals intentionally regulate their communication to maintain the expected level of commitment within a relationship.
What do we know about types of intimate relationship and associated sexual partners - A scoping review of interdisciplinary literature