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The latest term breaking the internet — symbiosexuality — reconceptualises the entire notion of desire as an exclusive one-to-one experience. According to a study conducted by researchers at Seattle University, which was published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour, this new form of sexual attraction is described as an "attraction to the energy, multidimensionality and power shared between people in relationships". Simply put, those who identify as symbiosexual are attracted to the love and power dynamics of an already established couple, without necessarily being enticed by either individual in the pair.
“Findings from this study indicate that a diverse group of people experience symbiosexual attraction and, while unanticipated, symbiosexual attraction can be a strong, frequent, and/or pervasive experience. These findings push the boundaries of the concepts of desire and sexual orientation in sexuality studies and challenge the ongoing invisibility and invalidation of and stigma and discrimination against such attractions, within both the polyamorous community and our broader mononormative culture,” says Sally W. Johnston, the Adjunct Professor at Seattle University who authored the study.
We all love seeing a power couple. Take Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s recent pregnancy photoshoot, which raked up 5.1 million likes in 16 hours. Or how fluttery we feel whenever Virat Kohli sends a flying kiss to Anushka Sharma during a cricket match. However, this isn’t to be confused with symbiosexuality. There’s a difference between shipping a celebrity pairing and genuinely being sexually attracted to the synergy of a couple’s pre-existing relationship. Here’s breaking it all down.
Symbiosexuality: The phenomenon of being sexually attracted to a couple. Know all about it
Who can identify as symbiosexuals? The study has found that symbiosexuals are drawn to the synergy of a pre-existing romantic relationship. They feel attracted to the love, trust, support and power-play that exists between a couple, and wish to sample a bit of that relational energy. An oversimplified way to explain this would be — symbiosexuals wish to date the energy of the relationship. This is different from other sorts of sexualities, where one may wish to engage in physical intimacy with a couple.
Johnston, in her introduction to the study, further clarifies: “It is the attraction to the relationship and/or energy shared between people that makes symbiosexuality distinct from plurisexualities such as bisexuality or pansexuality which are defined as attractions to more than one gender or attractions to all genders”.
The study, which referred to 145 reports from participants who expressed their attraction to the relationship between a couple, rather than to individual persons within the relationship, also found that symbiosexuals tend to be stigmatised in both monogamous and non-monogamous communities. This is mainly because symbiosexuality has been given the label of ‘unicorn’ in literature, which has a more negative connotation referring to people who are willing to engage in sex with couples without participating in the other aspects of the relationship. This is incorrect when it comes to symbiosexuals, who experience a genuine attraction and even catch feelings toward the energy of the couple, as a whole.
According to Johnston, symbiosexuality spans a diverse group of ages, races/ethnicities, religious beliefs, education levels, social classes, nationalities, community types, sexualities, gender identities, and relationship identities. A large percentage of participants in the study represented queer sexualities (90.3 per cent) and genders (34.5 per cent), as well as non-monogamous relationship identities (87.5 per cent).
