Have you ever felt your D/s, M/s, or other power exchange relationship was misunderstood?
Do you ever grow weary of having to justify or explain your power exchange relationship? Do people assume that you are somehow a bad person for enjoying these relationships?
Because these misunderstandings often lead to discrimination, we are seeking to address these misunderstandings by conducting an in-depth study of a diverse array of power exchange relationships, which we are calling authority transfer relationships.
Are you kinky and in a power-exchange relationship that has lasted 2 or more years? If so, we would love to learn from your experience!
About This Study
The experiences of dominance and submission come in many different types of relationships, such as master-slave, dominant-submissive, pup-handler, and big-little to name just a few. These power-exchange relationships are often misunderstood and often mischaracterized. We are conducting an exploratory study to contribute to a better understanding of these relationships.
Key Information
The following is a concise and focused presentation of key information to assist you in understanding why you might or might not want to participate in this research.
- The purpose of the study is to document the experiences of dominance and submission in power exchange or authority transfer relationships.
- Your participation is voluntary. You may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
- Your alternative is to not take part in the study.
- The main study procedures include completing two surveys and participating in a one- on-one interview on Zoom. As a potential participant, you will fill out a short screening questionnaire to see if you are eligible to be enrolled in the study.
- You must be at least 20 years old to participate in this study
- You must currently reside in the United States.
- You have engaged in kinky behaviors in the past 12 months or self-identify as kinky.
- You are currently in a continual, consensual power exchange / authority transfer relationship that has lasted at least 2 years in length,
- OR your 2 year+ relationship has ended within the past year.
- Once you are determined as eligible, we will ask you to review an informed consent form summarizing the study. You can then decide whether to enroll.
- If you are not selected for an interview, you will be notified by the study team.
- If you agree with the informed consent, you will be directed on how to use Adobe eSignature to provide your electronic signature.
- Once enrolled, you will complete an additional short online additional survey and be interviewed by one of the researchers.
- After your interview, you may be asked to review and respond to some preliminary results, to help ensure that the study is scientifically valid.
- Your participation in the study is expected to last:
- It takes approximately 5 minutes for potential participants to complete the initial screening questionnaire.
- If selected for participation in the follow-up interviews, your interview will take between 1 and 2.5 hours.
- You will be asked to complete an additional online survey, taking approximately 30 additional minutes.
- So, if you are enrolled in the study, you will be asked to spend between a total of 90 minutes to 3 hours of your time.
The Study’s Purpose
The purpose of this study is to document the experiences of dominance and submission in power exchange or authority transfer relationships.
The results of the study may be used for future scientific and healthcare purposes; for example, a therapist might use the results to help to better understand their kinky clients.
Do you meet the eligibility requirements?
- You must be at least 20 years old to participate in this study
- You must currently reside in the United States
- You have engaged in kinky behaviors in the past 12 months or self-identify as kinky.
- You are currently in a continual, consensual power exchange / authority transfer relationship of at least 2 years in length,
- OR your 2 year+ relationship has ended within the past year.
Read below for more details related to the study
We recognize that participating in research involving kink can involve sharing intimate and potentially stigmatized aspects of your personal life. We want to assure you that your confidentiality, including the confidentiality of your kink identities, is of paramount importance. To protect your privacy, we will use pseudonyms and unique codes instead of real names in all data records, and any potentially identifying information, including aspects related to your kink identities, will be carefully removed or altered. If we quote a part of your transcribed interview in presentations, we will remove any information from the quoted passage that might identify you. Only authorized research personnel will have access to the study data we analyze, which will be securely stored in encrypted files.
We are committed to ensuring that your participation remains confidential and that your identity and kink affiliations are not disclosed in any reports, publications, or presentations coming from this study. Your trust is essential, and we take every measure to respect and safeguard your privacy. While all interested parties are aware of the need to keep your information confidential, total confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.
To the extent allowed by law, every effort will be made to keep your personal information confidential. However, information from this study will be looked at by the research team, and at the request of the institution, the sponsor/funding agency supporting the study, and those responsible for overseeing the conduct of research. This may include representatives from the federal Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) or other regulatory agencies, the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York.
This study will not provide any benefits to you directly, but may help to develop an important new tool that will help scientists and health professionals to understand kinky people and communities.
- Are there benefits to participating in this study? No incentives will be offered for completing this study. Except for your time, there are no additional costs. It is important to understand you are not receiving services of any sort from TASHRA or CSU East Bay because of your participation in this study.
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Participating in this study may not benefit you directly, but it will help us learn more about authority transfer relationships. We plan to publish the results from our study in a peer- reviewed academic journal and to present the results at professional academic and health professional conferences We hope that through abetter understanding of these relationships through this study, healthcare providers may be empowered to provide more informed and potentially less stigmatizing treatment of individuals enjoying authority transferrelationships.
Please reach out to Richard Sprott ([email protected] or [email protected] or 510-919-4488) with any questions related to the study.
ATR Research Team
Dr. Tiffany Chan
ResearcherBased in Southern California in the Los Angeles area, Dr. Tiffany Chan (she, her, they pronouns) is a Certified Holistic Sexuality Educator (CHSE) and board-certified Sexologist who specializes in kink…
Read MoreStephen Ratcliff, MA, LPCC, LPC, NCC, CST
ResearcherSteve (he, him pronouns) is a licensed mental health counselor and AASECT certified sex therapist in private practice in Portland, Oregon who specializes in treating LGBTQ+, Kinky, and Consensually Nonmonogamous…
Read MoreAnna Randall, DHS, LCSW, MPH
ResearcherAnna Randall, DHS, LCSW, MPH (she/her/hers) the Co-Founder & Exec. Dir. of TASHRA – The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance (tashra.org), an international health research and professional training organization focusing…
Read MoreRichard A. Sprott, PhD
Principal InvestigatorRichard Sprott, PhD is TASHRA’s Research Director. He is a developmental psychologist, researcher, and instructor for two Bay Area universities, Cal State University, East Bay and UC Berkeley Extension. His…
Read More
Based in Southern California in the Los Angeles area, Dr. Tiffany Chan (she, her, they pronouns) is a Certified Holistic Sexuality Educator (CHSE) and board-certified Sexologist who specializes in kink education and D/s dynamics within her private consulting practice. Her work is deeply rooted in embodiment, holistic principles, and empowering people to live authentically.
Tiffany completed her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) with a concentration in Leadership in 2020, M.A. in English Literature in 2013, and B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing in 2011. She has been publishing scholarly works, non-fiction articles and erotica novellas since 2016 and is a proud promoter of erotic intelligence. In addition, she is also an RYT-200 yoga instructor, aerialist, and provocative artist.
In 2020, Tiffany became a coalition member of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) and an active member of the Kink/BDSM Special Interest Group of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS). She began her journey volunteering with The Alternative Sexual Health Research Alliance (TASHRA) in 2022 and is currently participating in the development of TASHRA’s Authority Transfer study with further interest in researching alternative lifestyles, Tantra, consensual non-monogamy, gender, and LGTBQ+ studies.
Tiffany is also the host of The Submissive Next Door Podcast (known as “Dr. Tiffany “K.” on the show), which brings a down-to-Earth approach to D/s dynamics and the world of kink through scholarly research, communication, consent, and safety practices. In 2022, she launched her second podcast, More Than Sex, which discusses sexological topics from historical, literary, and scientific perspectives. She is on a mission to de-stigmatize alternative lifestyles and sexuality by holding space for inclusion and acceptance for all sexualities and identities.
For more information about Dr. Tiffany Chan, visit her website below.
Steve (he, him pronouns) is a licensed mental health counselor and AASECT certified sex therapist in private practice in Portland, Oregon who specializes in treating LGBTQ+, Kinky, and Consensually Nonmonogamous (CNM) clients. Steve completed his Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies in 2006 and his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in 2009. In 2018, Steve began doctoral studies in Clinical Psychology. Steve’s doctoral studies are focusing on gender, sexual, and relationship diversity (GSRD). Steve joined the directors board of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) in March 2021. Steve began volunteering with The Alternative Sexual Health Research Alliance (TASHRA) in late 2020.
Steve was appointed a Research Scientist at TASHRA in 2022 and a lead research associate on TASHRA’s International Kink Health Study (IKHS) in 2021. In addition to IKHS, Steve is currently participating in the development of TASHRA’s Authority Transfer study, healing experiences study, and HIV intervention study. Steve’s research interests including studying various aspects of kink communities and other gender, sexual, and relationship diversity (GSRD) communities.
For more information about Steve, please visit his website below.
Anna Randall, DHS, LCSW, MPH (she/her/hers) the Co-Founder & Exec. Dir. of TASHRA – The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance (tashra.org), an international health research and professional training organization focusing on stigmatized sexual minority populations.
With a Masters in Social Work from Boston University and a Doctorate in Human Sexuality and Masters in Public Health from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, my work over the last 20 years has been to build awareness of the emergence of Kink-sexuality as an scientific area of clinical and research specialty. I work with TASHRA’s worldwide team to create kink community educational programs, mentor healthcare providers, lead professional case-consultation groups, and develop courses and curriculum for healthcare professional continuing education and post graduate programs. As part of our research on the lived-experienced of kink-involved (BDSM & fetish), I am the Co-Principal Investigator on the International Kink Health Study kinkhealth.org and a founder of the MOTE Conference mote-con.org. In my private practice as a licensed LCSW, I specialize in sex therapy with individuals, couples, and other relational configurations.
Richard Sprott, PhD is TASHRA’s Research Director. He is a developmental psychologist, researcher, and instructor for two Bay Area universities, Cal State University, East Bay and UC Berkeley Extension. His research focuses on sexual identity development, and the impact of stigma and prejudice on interactions between counselors/ therapists and members of stigmatized groups. He is in leadership of the Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, Division 44 of the American Psychological Association.