This is an evolving bibliography of articles, books, and other resources pertaining to compersion. If you would like to suggest additional items, please contact me!
For a more comprehensive list of papers & literary resources on consensual nonmonogamies, please see this compilation on Zotero. It contains about 600 references, including PhD theses, book chapters, and published papers. A huge thank you to the APA Div 44 CNM Task Force’s Literature Team for this work!
Academic Resources
Aumer, K., Bellew, W., Ito, B., Hatfield, E., & Heck, R. (2014). The happy green eyed monogamist: Role of jealousy and compersion in monogamous and non-traditional relationships. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, 17. Retrieved from http://www.ejhs.org/volume17/happy.html
Andres, M. (2021). What the Heart Wants: Polyamory, Compersion and Monogamish Arrangements. In The Routledge International Handbook of Social Work and Sexualities (pp. 134-148). Routledge.
Balzarini, R. N., McDonald, J., Kohut, T., Lehmiller, J., Holmes, B., & Harman, J. J. (2020). Compersion: When Jealousy-inducing Situations Don’t (Just) Induce Jealousy. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/k3tzf
Ben-Ze’ev, A. (2022). I Am Glad That My Partner Is Happy with Her Lover. In A. Pismenny & B. Brogaard (eds.), The Moral Psychology of Love. Rowman & Littlefield, 127-150. PDF
Brunning, L. (2020). Compersion: An Alternative to Jealousy?. Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 6(2), 225-245.
Chalmers, H. (2019). Is Monogamy Morally Permissible?. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 53(2), 225-241.
Deri, J. (2015). Love's refraction: Jealousy and compersion in queer women's polyamorous relationships. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
de Sousa, R. (2018). How to Think Yourself Out of Jealousy. In Shadows of the Soul (pp. 132-142). Routledge.
de Sousa, R. (2017). Love, jealousy, and compersion. C. Grau & A. Smuts (Éd.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Love, 1-23.
Duma, U. (2009). Jealousy and compersion in close relationships: Coping styles by relationship types (Doctoral dissertation). GRIN Verlag.
Ferrer, J. N. (2019). From romantic jealousy to sympathetic joy: Monogamy, polyamory, and beyond. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 38(1), 185-202. https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2019.38.1.185
Ferrer, J. N. (2021). Love and freedom: Transcending monogamy and polyamory. Rowman & Littlefield.
Flicker, S. M., Thouin-Savard, M. I., & Vaughan, M. D. (2022). Factors that facilitate and hinder the experience of compersion among individuals in consensually non-monogamous relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02333-4
Flicker, S. M., Vaughan, M. D., & Meyers, L. S. (2021). Feeling Good About Your Partners’ Relationships: Compersion in Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior 50, 1569–1585 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-01985-y
Kauppi, M. (2021). Polyamory: A Clinical Toolkit for Therapists (and Their Clients). Rowman & Littlefield.
Mogilski, J. K., Reeve, S. D., Nicolas, S. C., Donaldson, S. H., Mitchell, V. E., & Welling, L. L. (2019). Jealousy, consent, and compersion within monogamous and consensually non-monogamous romantic relationships. Archives of sexual behavior, 1-18.
Ritchie, A., & Barker, M. (2006). 'There aren't words for what we do or how we feel so we have to make them up': Constructing polyamorous languages in a culture of compulsory monogamy. Sexualities, 9(5), 584-601.
Schippers, M. (2016). Beyond monogamy: Polyamory and the future of polyqueer sexualities. New York, NY: NYU Press.
Stohlman-Vanderveen, M. (2019). Disrupting notions: ameliorating romantic jealousy through compersion. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/2178/
Thouin-Savard, M.I., Flicker, S.M. (2023). Compersion. In: Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_2472-1
Thouin-Savard, M. I. (2021). Compersion in Consensually Nonmonogamous Relationships: A Grounded Theory Investigation (Doctoral dissertation, California Institute of Integral Studies).
Willey, A. (2016). Undoing monogamy: The politics of science and the possibilities of biology. New York, NY: Duke University Press.
Wolfe, L. (2003). Jealousy and transformation in polyamorous relationships (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA.
How-to Books & Resources
Anapol, D. M. (1997). Polyamory: The new love without limits.
Anapol, D. M. (2004). Compersion: Meditations on using jealousy as a path to unconditional love. (eBook)
Chambliss, K. (2017). Jealousy Survival Guide: How to feel safe, happy & secure in an open relationship.
Fern, J. (2020). Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy. Thorntree Press LLC.
Hardy, J. W., & Easton, D. (2017). The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love. Berkley.
Hypatia From Space. (2018). Compersion: Polyamory beyond jealousy. Self-published.
Kardos, E. (2016). Relationship Agreements: A Simple and Effective Guide for Strengthening Communication, Reducing Conflict, and Increasing Intimacy to Design Your Ideal Relationship.
Labriola, K. (2013). The jealousy workbook: Exercises and insights for managing open relationships. SCB Distributors.
Labriola, K. (n.d.). Three articles on jealousy and compersion in open relationships (accessible here with author’s permission):
JEALOUSY AND COMPERSION IN OPEN RELATIONSHIPS PART I
JEALOUSY AND COMPERSION IN OPEN RELATIONSHIPS PART II
JEALOUSY AND COMPERSION IN OPEN RELATIONSHIPS PART III
Taormino, T. (2008). Opening up: A guide to creating and sustaining open relationships. San Francisco, CA: Cleis.
Elisabeth Sheff’s blogs on compersion on Psychology Today:
