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ABSTRACT
This study examines the communicative strategies and nonmonogamous identity formation of individuals who are polyamorous. We investigate the identity management tactics that individuals who are polyamorous utilize to navigate a society in which monogamy and monosexuality are the norm. Interactions of individuals who are polyamorous within a mononormative society are treated as a type of intercultural communication due to the contrasting cultural identities and communication rules. E-interviews with 38 individuals who are polyamorous provided basis for phone and Skype interviews. Twenty-two interviews produced the phases of identity management, including trial and error, enmeshment (mixing up), and renegotiation. Analyzing interviewees’ communication also produced the themes of managing stigma and impressions of the relationship identity. Implications of the study include a richer understanding of polyamorous identity management, polyamory as a relationship orientation, and a new perspective in applying identity management theory.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Billy Table
Billy Table, MA, is a doctoral student and researcher in Communication Studies at the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research involves issues of interpersonal health communication, romantic relationships, and intersectional identities. She aims to highlight language choices in communicating identity, disclosures, and power relations to uncover social processes.
Jennifer A. Sandoval
Jennifer A. Sandoval, PhD, is an assistant professor of human communication at the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on the communicative elements involved in the intersection of identity, the body, and health. She investigates these issues in the contexts of international surrogacy, LGBT family creation, the rhetoric of Assistive Reproductive technology, and reproductive justice.
Harry Weger
Harry Weger, PhD, is an associate professor of human communication at the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Weger is currently the editor of the journal Argumentation and Advocacy. His research interests include nonverbal communication in televised political debates, communication in cross-sex friendships, and conflict in romantic relationships.