No one seems to have any hard statistics on the many causes of poly breakups. My conclusions are based on decades spent counseling poly people about their breakups, as well as conducting extensive interviews specifically on poly breakups. Part One of this book covers the half of poly relationships that end due to causes other than polyamory. These relationships end for all the same reasons monogamous people break up, which I call The Usual Suspects or The Big Seven.
Many people are surprised to hear that at least half of all poly breakups have nothing to do with polyamory. The explanation for this is simple: Poly people are not any smarter about relationships than monogamous people and make the same unfortunate mistake of falling in love with people who are utterly incompatible with them. Some people have bragged that poly people are more highly evolved and are better at relationships than monogamous people, but that’s not true. Unfortunately, when it comes to love and romance, poly people are just as likely to be completely delusional and have mush for brains as monogamous people. At least half of all poly breakups are caused by the same issues as monogamous breakups, but those same problems often have more complicated manifestations due to the non-monogamous nature of the relationship.