Some men want less sex - survey

Unbelievable as it may sound, not all young men want more sex.

According to a survey of Australian men, 12% between the ages of 16 and 24 said they wanted less sex - the highest proportion of any age group.

"Although it's a minority, it's still interesting that it's more of them [than any other age group], which is not that sort of myth, boys not getting enough sex and dying to get it," said Juliet Richters, Associate Professor in Sexual Health, University of New South Wales.

Richters and a team of researchers from around Australia surveyed some 4,300 heterosexual men and 4,400 women between the ages of 16 and 64. She said another survey five years ago showed similar results.

Only 31% of men in that age group said they wanted more sex, the lowest of any other age group as well.

More sex

"It may well be that they are being overwhelmed by girls of much the same age who are madly in love and very keen," she said.

"It also takes men of that age about a year or longer to commit to a relationship."

More predictably, the survey found that 57% of men between 35 and 44 wanted more sex, compared with only 28% of women, while 14% of women said they wanted less.

Half of men aged 55 to 64 wanted more sex, while only 27% of women in the same age group felt the same.

"The evolutionary explanation is women are only keen on sex when they can conceive. A social explanation is a whole lot of stuff, including time, pressure and tiredness," Richter said.

"I mean, sex is a leisure activity after all." - (Reuters, April 2011)

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