A recent study in Sexuality and Culture by Dr. Carey M. Noland, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, claims to be the first empirical examination of “roster” relationships. Rosters can be defined as forms of casual sexual relations in which one person maintains multiple simultaneous and non-committed (aka: “no strings attached”) connections. Based on in-depth interviews with 46 adults (52.2% female, 45.7% male, 2.2% non-binary), Noland found that rosters tend to develop organically and are not deliberately constructed. Rosters can also involve an informal hierarchy in which different partners receive varying degrees of attention, communication, and sex. Participants also described their rosters as serving purposes beyond just sex, including validation, emotional support, and a way to evaluate their potential partners, which makes this form of relating something else beyond the “open” and “non-monogamous” sexual relations that seem to be growing in prominence. Many sex and dating apps have functions that help their users keep track of repeat hook-ups, a “book-marking” of sorts of lovers and/or friends. And thus, we may wonder whether such technical functions – and dating/sex apps in general – are behind this new emerging sexual relational script.
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