For associate psychology professor Brad Sagarin, studying bondage sex is just another day at the office.

But he and his team of researchers made some surprising conclusions after conducting the study, which took place at parties the researchers attended in Arizona and Colorado.

“Despite the pain and discomfort in [sadomasochism] done consensually, the activities ended up bringing people closer together,” said Sagarin, the study’s lead researcher.

A lot of research shows a fair number of people are interested in sadomasochistic activities and bondage, Sagarin said.

“It’s a relatively understudied area of human sexuality,” Sagarin said. “It’s something that a lot of people incorporate into fantasies, but it’s not something we actually know a lot about. Literature written by experienced SM practitioners suggests that, within the context of an SM scene, [dominance, submission, pain and humiliation] can enhance a relationship rather than damaging it.”

Data collection took place at parties hosted by SM groups. When participants arrived at the parties, researchers asked if each person planned to participate in what Sagarin called the “scene,” referring to each SM activity. For those that said yes, the researcher then asked each person if he or she wanted to participate in the research. For ethical reasons, Sagarin said, the researchers did not want to solicit behavior from people who weren’t already going to be a part of a certain activity.

During the scenes, some researchers waited in a separate room to collect saliva samples to gauge cortisol levels before and after scenes. Another researcher was in the room as the activities were taking place.

“We were kind of right there in the middle of it,” Sagarin said with a laugh. “It was a relatively chaotic data collection environment.”

The research found that the “bottom,” or person in a scene who gets tied up and receives stimulation had high levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, which Sagarin said is not always a negative thing.

“It made sense,” Sagarin said, “because it tends to show up in situations when not in control.”

The “top,” or person who does the tying up and is dominant, showed little change in cortisol levels.

After the scene ended, both the “top” and “bottom” showed decreases in cortisol, Sagarin said, with both reporting a significant increase in relationship closeness.

“All of the scenes displayed acts of caring and affection,” Sagarin said. “People were looking out for positive experiences for their partner.”

Stressing the need for mutual consent, Sagarin said bondage and SM experiences “have the potential to increase intimacy.”

Despite the nature of the study, Sagarin said the situations weren’t weird.

“If anything, we were pleased by the warm welcome we received,” Sagarin said. “This is a group of people that are very interested in having research done on their activities. They were very receptive to having us intrude on fairly private activities.”