BDSM Research Team - Northern Illinois University

Now known as The Science of BDSM Research Team, it is “…led by professor of social psychology, Dr. Brad Sagarin, and composed of academics and community members. Members of the team include graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of fields, professors of psychology, clinical psychologists, and kinky people who are interested in supporting research. The team aspires to produce and disseminate quality research on BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism), and kink related topics.

The team seeks to understand the nature, dynamics, motivations, and effects of BDSM activities and relationships. To do so, it is committed to designing and conducting ethical studies, thoughtfully analyzing and interpreting data, and disseminating the results in as objective a manner as possible.

The team assumes that many people do BDSM for psychologically healthy reasons, and believes that de-pathologizing BDSM will help the scientific community and the BDSM community. The team anticipates that its research will yield a mix of findings, some congenial to a view of BDSM as healthy and some not, and it is dedicated to being open and transparent about all of its findings.”