Breakups are messy and leave at least one party with a crash in self esteem, anger or sadness. One way some people cope is with a rebound relationship or casual sex. Hook ups can start out as a way to feel better, but they might actually make things worse, according to Psychology Today.
Psychologists Lindsay Barber and Lynne Cooper from the University of Missouri found 18 million online sites on the topics of rebound or revenge sex, but only 12 published studies, so they decided to look into the psychological results of a breakup.
Study participants had broken up with serious partners three months before the study started and their progress was followed throughout an entire semester, according to Psychology Today. That gave the researchers eight months worth of insight. The 170 participants were two-thirds female.
Two-thirds of the participants had sex post-breakup and over half the encounters were considered true rebound sex (since it was not sex with an ex). One-third of people use sex to cope with post-breakup anger and sadness, researchers gleaned.
The "dumper" and "dumpee" have different views toward rebound sex, researchers found. Those who were broken up with (the partner left behind) were more likely to use rebound sex to cope.
Commitment levels also predicted the likelihood of rebound sex, Psychology Today reported. If the partner was highly committed during the ended relationship, the instance of rebound sex was low - at least immediately after the breakup. Once the subject had sex, they were more likely to admit that it was a manner to deal with their distress over the ended relationship.
Barber and Cooper debate whether rebound sex is risky, since it could include sex with strangers or unprotected sex. Short term, rebound sex helps people cope and recover, but Psychology Today suggests finding other ways to "to find relationship fulfillment" aside from casual sex.
