Scientists reveal the 'ideal body count' for men and women in study
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, World News, Community
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, World News, Community
Apparently, there's an 'ideal body count' for men and women in the eyes of science.
When it comes to knowing your partner's sexual history, you might simply not want to know. After all, what difference does it really make?
Well, according to science, there's actually an ideal number for both men and women, with a specific sweet spot on numbers of sexual partners and even age of losing your virginity.
Research carried out in Social Psychological and Personality Science set out to answer what is the magic number of sexual activity in the preferences of the two genders, finding that people with moderate sex lives are seen more positively.
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Meanwhile, those who have had too little, or too much, sex may be more likely to be seen as unfavorably, the study suggests.
More than 340 participants in Germany were asked to answer how society would view a 25-year-old man or woman with different levels of sexual activity.
It asked various nitty gritty details, like the number of sexual partners to the level of intercourse and masturbation habits and even sexual fantasies.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results found high sexual activity was rated more favorable for men compared to women, while low sexual activity was rated more positively for women than for men.
However, the most socially approved behavior for both sexes settled somewhere in the middle, meaning moderate sexual activity for both men and women were better than no sexual history whatsoever or a high 'body count.'
While the data shows there is a double standard still reigning supreme, it's actually a little more complicated.
As for the magic number, the outcome found men would ideally have around four to five sexual partners, with two-three being casual.
Losing their virginity between the ages of 18 to 20 was also considered the prime time.
As for women, the results showed preference for two to three total sexual partners, with one or two of those being casual.
Meanwhile, losing their virginity was much younger, between the ages of 16 and 18.
“There are both similarities and differences in the societal evaluation of male and female sexuality," the researchers wrote.
“However, contrary to common assumptions, moderate rather than extremely low or extremely high levels of sexual activity are most valued for both genders.”
Men were also rated more favotably if they had sex four to five times per week and masturbated three to four times a week compared to women, who were judged more positively at three to four times and two-three times respectively.
Even sexual fantasies have a magic number, with three times a day being considered OK for men and just two for women.