Symbiosexuality is a new phenomenon that has forced experts to ‘rethink human attraction'

A new study has delved deeper into polyamory and those who partake in such relationships.

The topic of polyamory and 'throuples' received increased attention in recent months following the release of Zendaya's newest movie Challengers.

In the film Zendaya's character and two men have a very intense love triangle.

But, while in the movie Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist's characters are both mainly attracted to Zendaya as she's the driving piece in their relationship, there's a new sexual phenomenon that looks at these kind of relationships in a new light.

This is something known as symbiosexuality, and it's where someone is attracted to an already established couple rather than them as individuals.

This type of sexuality is described as 'attraction to the energy, multidimensionality and power shared between people in relationships'.

Sally W. Johnston, an adjunct professor of anthropology and sociology at Seattle University, recently conducted a study which found that a large number of participants reported feeling a sexual and romantic attraction to a 'third force' or 'synergy' between the existing members of a couple, MailOnline reports.

Challengers sees Zendaya in a love triangle (Amazon MGM Studios)

With this in mind, Johnston says we need to 'rethink the nature of human attraction and desire as only one-to-one experiences'.

Johnston's findings, which have been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, analyzed secondary data from the 2023 The Pleasure Study that surveyed 373 participants about aspects of their sexual and gender identity.

Explaining the findings, the study states: "Findings from this study support the hypothesis that people experience symbiosexual attraction, which they describe as an attraction to the energy, multidimensionality, and power shared between people in relationships.

"Further, findings from this study indicate that a diverse group of people experience symbiosexual attraction and, while unanticipated, symbiosexual attraction can be a strong, frequent, and/or pervasive experience."

The new phenomenon is where someone is attracted to an already established couple (Annapurna Pictures)

Johnston first encountered symbiosexuality while researching the treatment of 'unicorns' within polyamorous communities.

As per Very Well Mind, a unicorn is 'a person who is willing to join an existing couple'.

It adds: "The sexual meaning of a unicorn is someone who engages in sexual activity with a couple but does not participate in other aspects of the relationship."

Despite the sexual benefits that come with being a 'unicorn', Johnston discovered that these individuals are often poorly treated and can end up being objectified and ostracized - something backed up by her recent study.

"Sexual and romantic relationships between single people and couples (potentially motivated by symbiosexual attraction) receive a lot of negative attention in polyamorous communities," she explained to PsyPost.

"I wanted to learn more about this understudied attraction."