PhD Student Writes Social Science Thesis on Threesomes

A PhD student in sociology at Birmingham City University in Birmingham, England wrote his thesis paper on three-way sexual encounters.

Ryan Scoats, a researcher at Birmingham City University, has received international media attention for his PhD thesis on three-way sexual encounters. His research specifically focused on such encounters that involve two men and one woman (MMF).

Scoats was asked by VICE why he decided to research this topic. “For women, for the longest time, there’s been almost an inherent expectation of their inherent bisexuality or gender fluidity,” Scoats explained, arguing that his research gave him a better understanding of developing attitudes towards sexuality.

According to recent statistics, eight percent of women and 24 percent of men have reported having at least one mixed-gender threesome.  “It is likely,” Canadian researchers Ashley E. Thompson and E. Sandra Byers explain, “that any increase in [mixed-gender threesome] experience among heterosexuals will be driven by men rather than by women.”

Scoats argues that there is an evolving standard of what is sexually acceptable. “In the past it would have been more stigmatized for men to have MMF threesomes,” Scoats argues. However, the males that he spoke with for his research “did seem comfortable telling at least their friends that they’d had an MMF threesome.” Scoats says this is “because of the reduction of homophobia in general within society, this allows men to have these kinds of threesomes with no fear about what others are going to think of them for it.”

Scoats also concluded that men are more likely to engage in a MMF encounter if the other male is someone that they know well. “Men are more likely to have an MMF threesome if it’s with someone that they know well, with someone that’s a good friend,” Scoats argues. “If it’s not a good friend, it reduces the chances of that happening.”