Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sex frequency by age and marital status

In response to a married commenter with a thoroughly middling sex life, Roissy wrote the following in faux astonishment:
Once a week? What are you guys, 90? Once a week is a sexual starvation diet for
me.
Having just been presented with evidence showing that once a week is the average amount of action married men and unmarried men who are hungry and successful enough with women to hit double-digits, it's obvious that you're atypical, superman. Does being tracked down by women as you're drearily hacking and trying to keep the mucus from running out of your pores while playing lonely wallflower not give you some indication that you have an enormously helpful built-in advantage?

The response did get me thinking of another way of gauging at what age men and women are most fertile. Previously, I've looked at the number of sexual partners unmarried people have had. The results have plenty of face validity, but there are potential shortfalls in looking at total number of partners instead of the total quantity of sexual activity, most notably the inability to decipher whether or not the respondent is in a committed relationship. Further, there are pious types who actively work at being monogamous so long as the hedonistic consolation prize of plenty of in-house access is on the table. Removing married folks from the equation might cause some unwanted skew as well.

The graph below depicts frequency of sexual activity* by age range for men and women, married and unmarried.



It comes as no surprise to see that married people get more action at every age than their unmarried counterparts do. Men in their early twenties who marry women in their late teens really rock the house. Among unmarried men and women, the peak of sexual activity comes in the mid-twenties. After hitting menopause, female sexual desire drops to almost nothing, as illustrated by index scores under 2--less than once a month, on average--from the late-forties on. Married women probably continue to put out mostly for the sake of their husbands once they reach that point. Men mellow gently as time goes on, but don't really lose their lust until they reach their sixties.

Regarding Roissy's comment, an index score of 4 indicates weekly sex, something the average unmarried man never attains, let alone one who is 90 years old! Past the age of 70, once a quarter is nothing to be ashamed of (although I'm ashamed to have just thought about it occurring).

GSS variables used: SEXFREQ, MARITAL(1)(2-5), AGE, SEX(1)(2)

* Responses range from 0 to 6; 0 indicates no sex in the year; 1 indicates once or twice a year; 2 indicates once a month; 3 indicates 2-3x a month; 4 indicates weekly; 5 indicates 2-3x a week; 6 indicates 4+ times per week.

12 comments:

Chuck said...

interesting. i'm interested in the greater amounts of married men's sexual behavior and that of women's. it trends higher for some reason. is this reporting bias or the fact that married men are unfaithful more than married women?

Anonymous said...

Chuck, a decent just-so story is that married men increase in dating value for a longer time, and decrease less steeply, than do married women.

For instance, if a 28yo couple gets married, the man will increase in attractiveness untill 35 or so, whereas the woman will be downhill straight from the wedding day.

Or womens' tendency to fuck upwards versus mens' tendency to fuck anything with a pulse at least once might partly account for the different rates.

roissy said...

"Roissy wrote the following in faux astonishment:"

true fact: my astonishment was not faux!

maybe i'm an overprimed engine of sweet sweet intimacy but once a day while in a relationship is usually my floor. and i haven't been 18 in a while. i suppose if you count the dry spells of varying length which naturally afflict single men more than married men, then perhaps once a week is plausible for the average beta, but within relationships once a week means one thing -- time to start looking for a replacement.

Audacious Epigone said...

Chuck,

It's probably the result of men consistently reporting higher numbers and levels of sexual activity than women do. The reason for this creeping skew is that the more women a man has had sex with, the higher his status tends to become. For women, the opposite is true--relative chastity is desirable.

Anonymous said...

It is simple ... men are more often older than their female partner. At age 50, with my husband being 60, our index is even.

Anonymous said...

I'm 58 and my girlfriend is 59. Sex five or six days a week is fairly average for us, and sometimes that's twice a day. I don't know how long this pace will continue, but it's been pretty much at that rate since we met a year and a half ago. How long will this continue? Don't know, but I'm making sure to take my vitamins every morning.

Anonymous said...

We are both 59 and have been married just over one year, and continue to have sexual intercourse almost every day, therefore about 5 days a week.

Anonymous said...

I am 73yo and keep to an average 2 orgasms a week with my 64yo very sexy wife. There are days when we do it 3 times a day but that is not very frequent. When I was young I usually entertained 2-3 girlfriends each day. My current wife believes that I am a sex devil and that is why she forced me to marry her. She used to be a nympho but now she is calmer.

Anonymous said...

We have been married for over twenty years. We schedule marital relations about five times per week - two days on one day off - I am 54 and she is 49. We like romantic lingerie - short to long gowns and we have kept to this schedule comfortably for quite a long time and it is far more frequent than when we were first married.

Anonymous said...

I had a fling with a man my age (68) and sex was the greatest I ever experienced and twice daily. His miserly habits caused the breakdown of an otherwise great relationship.

Two years later (in another relationship),I have no sexual desire.

Lesson: the quality of the sexual relationship depends on the sexual process of the male.

LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE said...

CORRECTION:

Lesson: the quality of the sexual relationship depends on the sexual prowess of the male (not process).

Anonymous said...

I meant to say "prowess" not process.