Were you ever up for a casual relationship with someone you met at a party? Every individual will have a different answer to this. Both men and women indulge in no strings attached physical relationships. But can you guess who is more likely to prefer casual intimacy? A study published in the Frontiers of Psychology Journal claims that men prefer casual sex more than women. The researchers looked at how attitudes towards casual sex would alter for both men and women when sexual risk-taking circumstances, such as the possibility of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), were taken into account.

The researchers also evaluated how the degree of the partner’s attractiveness would affect their preference. Overall, the findings show that, compared to women, men reported much higher chances of sexual engagement.

The researchers contacted 246 people in total for the purpose of the study- Sex Differences in Attitudes Toward Casual Sex. Undergraduate students from a Southeastern American university made up the entire group of participants. They were chosen from the pool of researchers that specialise in general psychology at the university. There were 135 women and 111 men in the sample, respectively (45% and 55%). In order to reduce biased answers, the researchers offered significant contextual cues to reduce potential confounds that may contribute to gender disparities in engaging in casual sex, such as worries about pregnancy, the desire for sexual fulfilment, and a lack of social context or assessment.

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The participants were presented with fictitious situations and asked to rate how likely they are to make casual sexual contact with someone they met at a party or after they had a nice chat with them. Situations also involved context, such as when the person was kind and interested in them. The elaborate questionnaire asked the candidates to say what they would prefer in such circumstances. Additionally, the questionnaire also asked them to rank different STIs in order of severity. The participants considered HIV the most dangerous of all STIs.

After the research concluded that men are more likely to engage in casual sex, they also tried to assess if there were differences in the level of sex education among the genders. However, there were no significant disparities in sex education found among men and women.

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