Many couples incorporate bondage into their sex lives and find sexual bondage to be a confirmation of their relationship.

Bedroom bondage games can be used for sexual arousal or as a form of foreplay, which requires and involves a degree of trust and a surrender of control by the restrained person to the active partner. The restrained partner (called a submissive) surrenders control to the other partner (called a dominant). This transfer of control occurs voluntarily and under mutual understanding and consent. The key feature of sexual bondage is that it makes the restrained person vulnerable to a variety of sexual acts, some of which they may be inhibited from otherwise engaging in. The restrained partner is dependent for their sexual satisfaction on the actions of their partner, who may treat the restrained partner as their sex object. There are many reasons why people engage in bondage. Some people experience a sense of freedom during bodily passivity, they can focus on their inner spirituality and feel at peace, as one participant in a study on motivation for bondage explained: “Some people need to be tied up to be free.” Others experience helplessness, struggle with their bonds and feel some degree of masochistic pleasure from the restraint and pain, and are not inhibited from erotic stimulation by their partner. The free partner can experience erotic pleasure or sexual arousal by being in a dominant situation, while the bonded partner can achieve arousal by being in a largely “helpless” position in the hands of a trusted partner. Either way, the partners usually engage in bondage games to act out their sexual fantasies.