Chapter 8 Partner Concurrency and Relationship Dynamics

Although marriage rates have declined slightly over the past decade, the desire to be married among men and women still remains. Subsequently, desire for marriage is higher among women compared to men, and the likelihood of both genders being married by the age of 30 had decreased. The benefits of marriage or coupling include access to higher levels of wealth and more resources, financial stability, and an elevated standard of living. These benefits are far greater for women; subsequently, gender norms and the dynamics of power yield decision-making control within heterosexual relationships to men. Sexual concurrency is defined as the overlapping of sexual partners and can occur within the dynamics of all relationships, regardless of race. This chapter explores the variables used to define sexual concurrency, the manifestation of sexual concurrency in African-American relationships, and a subsequent relationship between sexual concurrency and HIV transmission among African-American women. The chapter also provides examples of these interconnecting variables among women living in poverty among the participants of the HPTN 064 study.