Definitely an interesting and somewhat taboo topic in some circles. I have a friend who is poly, and we have had discussions about it in the past. It is something that I am rather open to.

I feel that jealousy is probably the biggest hurdle in many instances to overcome and break away from monogamy being the norm. I have met so many people both male and female who just cannot stand seeing their partner show even a social interest in talking to someone of the opposite sex. Sometimes to the level of an obsession.

But there is also the the idea of possession I think. I see this in younger people a lot, that once they get that partner, they treat it like a thing they own and do not want to lose.

At the end of the day whatever relationship you are in or whatever approach to relationships you take, the number one take away is communication. That is one key point my friend told me about her poly relationships. Her primary partner and her always had extremely good communication. They talked about every partner they had with each other. There needs to be good communication in poly relationships, or people can easily end up getting wrong ideas or bad intentions.