235 Reasons To Have Sex (like we needed more than 1!)

I tracked down a very interesting article about a study done on "Sexual Motivation," otherwise known as "what are the reasons people have sex?"  Some of the answers are very interesting, ranging from the benign "I was horny" to the evil "I wanted revenge."  Check it out…

According to the biggest study carried out into sexual motivations, these include that it is a "reasonably effective way of overcoming boredom", help you fall asleep or gets rid of a stress headache.

For others, the desire for revenge was the major factor, while some lovers were motivated by a purely selfless wish to make the other person feel good.

The researchers also confirmed what most already consider obvious – men and women think differently about sex.

They found it was more about the physical experience for men, while women’s desires were based on an emotional need.

Women were much more likely to say: "I realized that I was in love." Men were more likely to say: "I wanted to increase the number of partners I had experienced."

Researcher Cindy Meston said: "We identified 237 distinct reasons why people have sex. They ranged from the mundane – ‘It feels good’, to the spiritual – ‘I wanted to feel closer to God’.

From altruistic – ‘I wanted the other person to feel good’, to manipulative – ‘I wanted to get a promotion’."

For the study, reported in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour this week, psychologists at the University of Texas quizzed more than 2,000 men and women aged 17 to 52.

"Why people have sex is a surprisingly little-studied topic," says their report. "One reason for its relative neglect is that scientists might simply assume that the answers are obvious."

Each of the 237 reasons was given the highest rating by at least one of the people taking part.

"The frequently endorsed reasons for having sex, reflect what motivates most people most of the time: attraction, pleasure, affection, love, romance, emotional closeness, arousal, the desire to please, adventure, excitement and opportunity," say the psychologists.

"The less frequently-endorsed reasons, however, may be no less important. One person’s seemingly trivial reason for having sex might well be another’s magnificent obsession." 

Notice how men seemed in it for the "experience" or "variety" while women gravitated towards the more emotional reasons.  Interesting.