Friends with Benefits? Gendered Performances in Women’s Casual Sexual Relationships - Fahs and Munger (2015)

Aug 22, 2026

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Although research has examined “friends with benefits” relationships, women’s subjective experiences remain underexplored. Using attachment theory, scripting theory, and social constructionist views of gender, the study draws on qualitative interviews with 20 women (M age = 34, SD = 13.35) from diverse racial, age, and sexual identity backgrounds. Five themes emerge: managing and suppressing emotions; performing detachment and emotionlessness; unclear communication and “other-defined” experiences; reproduction of racist and sexist scripts; and transitional aspects of the relationship. Findings address power differences and tensions between subverting and reinforcing scripts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Research aim and theoretical frameworks

Methods and participant characteristics

Five narrative themes

Implications for power and gendered scripts

Personal Relationships, 22 (2015), 188–203 . Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © 2015 IARR; DOI: 10.1111/pere.12073 Friends with benefits? Gendered performances in women’s casual sexual relationships BREANNE FAHS AND ADRIELLE MUNGER Arizona State University Abstract Although some research has examined “friends with benefits” relationships (FWBRs), women’s subjective accounts of FWBRs remains notably understudied. Utilizing attachment theory, scripting theory, and social constructionist theories of gender, this study drew upon qualitative interviews with a community sample of 20 women (mean age = 34, SD = 13.35) from diverse ages, races, and sexual identity backgrounds to illuminate five themes in women’s FWBR narratives: (a) regulation and suppression of emotions,(b) performance and idealization of detachment and emotionlessness,(c) lack of clear communication combined with “other-defined” experiences,(d) replication of racist and sexist scripts, and (e) transitional qualities of the relationship. Implications for the power differentials present in FWBRs, and tensions between subverting and further entrenching relationship scripts, are explored. Both popular media and scholarly research have shown an interest in “friends with benefits” relationships (FWBRs)—that is, friendships that involve sexual activity—in the past several years. In tandem with declining rates of monogamy and marriage (Amato, 2004), women’s casual sexual relationships have developed a more prominent place in our cultural and social landscape. Celebrations of“single life” and the benefits of sex without attachment have risen up as potential avenues to empowerment and agency for women. As a fusion between casual and committed relationships, FWBRs signify the fundamental fluidity of romantic and sexual connections. Recently, scholars have started to examine, primarily using quantitative methods, how many people Breanne Fahs, Women and Gender Studies Program, Arizona State University, Glendale; Adrielle Munger, Women and Gender Studies Program, Arizona State University, Glendale. Special thanks to Eric Swank and the Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group for their contributions to this manuscript. Correspondence should be addressed to Breanne Fahs, Arizona State University, Women and Gender Studies Program, 4701 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306, [e-mail: breanne.fahs@asu.edu](e-mail: breanne.fahs@asu.edu). engage in FWBRs, why they do so, and who they talk to about them (Bisson & Levine, 2009; Grello, Welsh, & Harper, 2006; Hughes, Morrison, & Asada, 2005; Puentes, Knox,& Zusman, 2008; VanderDrift, Lehmiller, & Kelly, 2012; Wentland & Reissing, 2011) . Still, few studies have targeted women’s subjective feelings and narratives about FWBRs, leaving a notable gap in the existing literatures that this study seeks to address. Although an examination of FWBRs might lend itself most closely to a study of women’s friendship patterns—as women often “evolve”a friendship (with either men or women) into an FWBR—we argue that the way women talk about FWBRs reveals more about the intersections between sociological and psychological scripts about gender, race, and power. The scant amount of research on women’s experiences with FWBRs—particularly their subjective accounts of these engagements across a diverse sample of ages and including heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian participants—suggests relevant inroads fora feminist analysis and new possibilities for uniting relationship research, feminist theory, and qualitative psychology. Friends with benefits 189 More specifically, this study drew from three theoretical frameworks—social constructionist theories of gender (Butler, 1990; Glenn, 1999; Lorber, 1994; Tiefer, 2004), social scripting theory (Muraco, 2012; Simon & Gagnon, 1986; Wiederman, 2005), and attachment theory (Bretherton, 1992; Fraley & Shaver, 2000)—to examine qualitative narratives from 20 women with d

FAQs

What research gap does the study address about friends with benefits relationships?

It addresses the limited focus on women’s subjective accounts of friends with benefits relationships, which remains notably understudied despite prior research using other methods.

Which theories are used to interpret women’s narratives in the study?

The study uses attachment theory, social scripting theory, and social constructionist theories of gender to analyze qualitative interview data.

What five themes are identified in women’s friends-with-benefits narratives?

The themes are emotion regulation and suppression; performance and idealization of detachment/emotionlessness; lack of clear communication plus “other-defined” experiences; replication of racist and sexist scripts; and transitional qualities of the relationship.

Aug 22, 2026

Upload by Aditya