An Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Sugar Dating Relationships from the Perspective of Sugar Babies: A Qualitative Study in Yasuj, Iran

Panahinasab, Sadegh; Kherradmand, Sayad

doi:10.22034/jspi.2026.129773.0

An Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Sugar Dating Relationships from the Perspective of Sugar Babies: A Qualitative Study in Yasuj, Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

sadegh panahinasab

sayad kherradmand

10.22034/jspi.2026.129773.0

Abstract

So-called “Sugar Daddy” and “Sugar Mommy” relationships, as an emerging form of intimate relationships, have expanded in Iranian society in recent years. This research was conducted with the aim of understanding the lived experience of “Sugar Babies” and analyzing the logic of the formation, continuation, and consequences of these relationships in the city of Yasuj. The present study employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 individuals who had experience in a sugar relationship and were analyzed using a systematic coding process. Five overarching themes emerged: Utilitarian Rationality in Redefining Intimacy, Contractualization of Relationships and Emotional Management of Intimacy, Multi-layered Seeking of Support and Compensating for Deficiencies, Reconfiguring Generational Differences and Shared Lifeworld, and Challenges to Marriage and the Weakening of Institutional Patterns. The results indicate that sugar relationships are a rational response to economic insecurities, the weakness of institutional supports, and cultural shifts in intimacy patterns. In these relationships, intimacy is redefined in a calculable, temporary, and exchange-based manner, leading to consequences such as the suspension of marriage, the commodification of the body, and the weakening of institutional bonds.

Keywords

Sugar Daddy

Sugar Mommy

Exchange

Generational Difference

Marriage

Iranian Society

Yasuj

Subjects