OK, so what good is your study? I don't mean that in a snarky way, but am inquiring. Every study has its limitations, so given yours, how will your study move social sciences forward academically?
We're hoping it will add a tiny piece to the existing knowledge base on non-monogamy - in this case, specifically those who have dyads that come in to therapy, or legally married partners. 2/3 of us are therapists, and typically see 2 partners in therapy at at time, not usually more than that (not sure why exactly). Or we see a couple wanting to try out non-monogamy, or one partner does and the other does not, etc. We'd like to have just a little more knowledge in this area to be able to facilitate therapy a little better.
We'd also like to continue studying this topic - so this survey per se is not *the* study, but rather a specific one that will hopefully be followed by more studies by us or others. We'd need to first figure out how to measure, say, triadic or group satisfaction, or another way to measure specific dyads without needing an overall primary partner.
One other thought - We *are* admittedly biased in terms of dyads - we believe that in terms of evolution and survival, the brain will automatically choose *one* person over the other(s) when threatened sufficiently, for example. Who this partner is might change all the time, even, but in any given moment, there has to be a preference, just because it's a matter of survival in our brains. Children do the same thing - they might even equally prefer mom and dad or mom and mom or whatever their caregivers may be, but in a moment of intense distress, with both caregivers in the room, they will choose one of them rather than be frozen not knowing what do to. Of course, again, that could change throughout one's life. Perhaps one issue I'm realizing now in typing this is we're thinking of "primary" in a different way than it is seen among many poly folks. Good to consider, so thanks! We're learning. Thank you for your patience.