Friends with Beneits PAUL A. MONGEAU, LISA J. VAN RAALTE, MARK ALAN GENEROUS, and LORI A. BEDNARCHIK Arizona State University, USA he term “friends with beneits relationship” (FWBR) is used primarily on college cam- puses to describe relationships where friends (who do not identify their relationship as dat- ing or romantic in nature) engage in repeated sexual interactions. As such, FWBRs rep- resent a relational hybrid that attempts to combine the best of both friendships (e.g., trust, comfort, and closeness) and romantic relationships (particularly sexual interac- tions), but eschew the emotional upheaval and chaos frequently experienced in the latter. his entry places FWBRs in a historical context and then describes the nuances of FWBRs. Friends with beneits represent one of the most recent premarital sexual practices that have emerged among heterosexuals. Over the past century, perhaps the only constant element of sexual interaction in heterosex- ual premarital relational development is change (Bailey 1988). hrough much of the twentieth century, premarital interaction focused upon the date. Dates were typically prearranged social events (normally initi- ated by the male) that centered on activities performed outside the home such as having dinner and dancing together. By the 1970s, the dominant premarital norm considered sexual interaction to be appropriate only in the context of a close, intimate, romantic relationship. Sexual interaction was typically understood as relecting the intimacy of the dating relationship. Although casual sex did he Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies, First Edition. Edited by Constance L. Shehan. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/9781119085621.wbefs500 occur at this time, it was considered relatively inappropriate (especially for women). Several scholars have asserted that, since the early 1990s, a “hookup” norm has (on college campuses, at least) largely supplanted the dating norm (Bogle 2008). Hookups were initially deined as single sexual interactions between strangers or acquaintances without any expectation of future sexual episodes or interactions of any kind. More recent research suggests that hookups occur in a variety of relational contexts and relect a number of relational (and nonrelational) implications (Epstein et al. 2009). Hookups occur fre- quently as a majority of college-aged students have experience with this sexual interaction. Although sexual interaction certainly still occurs in premarital romantic relationships, it is considerably more acceptable to have sexual interactions in nonrelational contexts than it was until late in the twentieth century. Another popular sexual practice involved in the college hookup norm is FWBRs. he FWBR label emerged in the late 1990s describing two friends who engage in sexual interactions, but do not consider their rela- tionship to be romantic in nature. FWBRs difer from hookups because FWBR partners engage in communicative interactions in addition to having sex (although this is not always the case). he ongoing friendship makes FWBRs simultaneously appealing (i.e., they provide a safe partner and environment within which to have sex) and typically ends up being quite complicated. he sexual interaction in FWBRs is typi- cally described as occurring with no strings attached. his indicates that partners’ sexual interactions are separated from any roman- tic expectations, feelings, or motivations. Also, no strings attached suggests that sexual