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Results highlight both positive outcomes (safety, comfort, trust, closeness, control) and negative consequences (hurt, friendship disruption, awkward complexity), alongside perceived limited STI risk and reported condom inconsistency for many participants.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/experiences-and-perceptions-of-young-adults-in-friends-with-benefits-relationships-a-qualitative-study/136585/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/experiences-and-perceptions-of-young-adults-in-friends-with-benefits-relationships-a-qualitative-study/136585.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Melati","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-18","2026-08-22",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What are friends with benefits relationships (FWBRs) as defined in the study?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"FWBRs are described as relationships between friends who engage in sexual activity without defining the relationship as romantic. Participants report activities combining elements of both friendship and sexual relationships.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What positive aspects of FWBRs did participants report?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Positive aspects included appropriateness for participants’ life situations, safety, comfort and trust, gaining confidence and experience, closeness and companionship, freedom and control, and easy access to sex.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What risks related to sexual health and communication were perceived by participants?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Participants described limited direct communication and perceived little or no STI risk in their FWBRs, yet many reported additional partners and inconsistent or no condom use. Most believed a sexual double standard exists, with women judged more negatively than men.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},136585,1787389493,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & 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D.Weaver¹,Kelly L.MacKeigan¹,and Hugh A.MacDonald¹  \n¹Department of Psychology,St.Francis Xavier University,Antigonish,NS  \nAcknowledgements:Funding for this project was provided by a University Council Research Grantand a SSHRC Small Institutional Grant from St.Francis Xavier University,as well as a student summeremployment grant from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.We would like to thank LisaPrice,Heather Patterson,and Angela Taylor for their input at various stages of this project.We would alsolike to thank the young adults who volunteered to be interviewed for this study.A portion of this articlewas originally presented at the Canadian Sex Research Forum Annual Meeting in Toronto,ON,2010.  \n# Introduction\n\nFriends with Benefits Relationships(FWBRs)aredefined as relationships between friends who engagein sexual activity without defining the relationshipasromantic(Hughes,Morrison,&Asada,2005).Thoseinvolved in FWBRs report approximately equivalentamounts of friendship activities(e.g.,going outtogether with a larger group of friends)and sexualactivities suggesting that FWBRs do,in fact,combineaspects of both platonic friendships and sexualrelationships (VanderDrift,Lehmiller,&Kelly,2010).  \nAlthough it is unlikely that the phenomenon ofFWBRs is new,research on this relationship typehas emerged primarily within the last decade.FWBRs appear to be common among college anduniversity students,with approximately 50%to60%of those surveyed reporting at least one FWBR  \nAbstract:Friends with Benefits Relatlonships(FWBRs)involve ongoing sexual activity occurring betweenpartners who do not identify the relationship as romantic.Although prelimlnary research suggests thatFWBRs may be common,little is known about how young adults experience these relationships.In thecurrent study,seml-structured interviews were completed with 26young adults with FWBR experience.Positive aspects of FWBRs included appropriateness for their life situation,safety,comfort and trust,gaining confidence and experience,closeness and companionship,freedom and having control,and easyaccess to sex.Negative aspects of FWBRs included getting hurt,ruining the friendship,and the relationshipbecoming complicated or awkward.FWBRs were characterized by limited direct communication betweenpartners.Participants perceived little or no risk of sexually transmitted infections(STIs)within theirFWBRs although 44%reported having additional sexual partners during their most recent FWBR and athird reported inconsistent orno condom use.A majority(77%)of the partlcipants believed that a sexualdouble standard exists in which women are judged more negatively than men for partlcipating in FWBRs.  \nexperience(Bisson &Levine,2009;McGinty,Knox,&Zusman,2007;Puentes,Knox,&Zusman,2008;Williams,Shaw,Mongeau,&Knight,2007).There is speculation that these relationships maybe more common among today's youth and youngadults than in previous generations.Bogle(2007,2008)argued that there has been a shift from thepredominant dating script of the 20h century to thehook-up script which comprises many forms ofcasual dating relationships including the FWBR.  \n# Risks within FWBRs\n\nBisson and Levine(2009)asked 125 universitystudents to identify potential disadvantages ofFWBRs.Participants referred to the developmentof unreciprocated feelings,damage to the existingfriendship,and the generation of negative emotionsas potential disadvantages.However,they were askedabout hypothetical disadvantages of FWBRs and  \nnot those specific to their own personal experiences.Thus,it is not clear at present whether thesedisadvantages are commonly experienced by youngadults and,if so,how they make sense of their FWBRexperiences.  \nIn an internet-based survey of 279 individualswith current or prior FWBR experience,Pattersonand Price(2009)found that 44%reported havingadditional sexual partners while they w","cbCaiquMaOaRbf0i","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiquMaOaRbf0i","pdf",1183330,14,"English","# Introduction\n# Risks within FWBRs\n# Positive aspects of FWBRs","[{\"question\":\"What are friends with benefits relationships (FWBRs) as defined in the study?\",\"answer\":\"FWBRs are described as relationships between friends who engage in sexual activity without defining the relationship as romantic. Participants report activities combining elements of both friendship and sexual relationships.\"},{\"question\":\"What positive aspects of FWBRs did participants report?\",\"answer\":\"Positive aspects included appropriateness for participants’ life situations, safety, comfort and trust, gaining confidence and experience, closeness and companionship, freedom and control, and easy access to sex.\"},{\"question\":\"What risks related to sexual health and communication were perceived by participants?\",\"answer\":\"Participants described limited direct communication and perceived little or no STI risk in their FWBRs, yet many reported additional partners and inconsistent or no condom use. Most believed a sexual double standard exists, with women judged more negatively than men.\"}]","Experiences and perceptions of young adults in friends with benefits relationships - A qualitative study | PDF",35]