If the theme of adding another collaborator to your relationship go pretty nice – after all , another person to bring you amorning coffeewould be quite handy – then you might be interested to cognize you ’re not the only one . A new study of human being in the UK has revealed that one in three are open to having more than one married woman or long - term girlfriend .

The subject field , carried out by researchers from Swansea University , asked 147 men and 246 women if they would be open to the idea of a polygamous marriage – more than one partner – if it were legal and consensual . Overall , the estimation was n’t staggeringly popular , but 30 percent of men give tongue to nakedness to it , compare to only 11 percent of women .

participant were also require about their willingness to absorb in polygyny , where a man is in a relationship with more than one woman , and polyandry , where a cleaning lady is in a relationship with more than one man . The idea of being the one who has to share , rather than the one being shared , was n’t met with much enthusiasm , although men were about 4 percent more concerned than women in sharing a cooperator . The concept of the participant themselves get more than one mate was the more popular of the two .

“ Comparing polygyny and polyandry directly , man were three - and - a - half times more likely to say ‘ yes ’ to the former than the latter , while women were doubly as likely to say ‘ yes ’ to having more than one partner , equate to the mind of sharing their cooperator with someone else , ” state lead author Andrew Thomas in astatement .

Polygamy amongst humans is not a raw affair – one study has present that it appears to have been present inBronze Age families , whilst many cultures around the mankind practiced polygyny and polyandry historically and to this day . It has , however , drawn a lot ofattentionin late years .

“ It ’s a red-hot trend with more and more couples talking about opening up their relationship to include other mass . However , these case of relationship are far from new , ” explained Thomas . “ While most seek monogamous relationship , a small ratio of human race have engaged in multi - partner relationships throughout human story , particularly polygynous marriage where one husband is shared by several Colorado - wives . ”

“ This study shows that a sizable minority of people are open to such human relationship , even in the UK where such union are nix . Interestingly , many more man are open to the idea than cleaning lady – though there is still interestingness on both side , ” the investigator concluded .

human being are n’t the only animals open to non - monogamy either – it ’s thought to live throughout the animate being kingdom , from atrio of owlsraising a fluffy skirt to the New Zealandgoosewho spent 12 year with two partners .

The study is published inArchives of Sexual Behavior .