Apparently, men think about sex every seven seconds – does that sound a little far-fetched to you? According to new research published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, it is! Duke University researchers have found that you over-estimate how much time you spend thinking about sex, as well as how often you have it. This may possibly due to gender stereotypes, as those being questioned may have applied such theories as “men are more interested in sex” or “men masturbate more”, when recalling their own memories.
According to study author Kevin P. Weinfurt, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Duke Medicine and member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, ‘This study arose from a need to understand how best to measure the effects of disease on people’s sexual health. We know these effects can make patients’ lives difficult and can disrupt their relationships. Researchers should be aware that mood can affect the accuracy of people’s reports of sexual function. To help interpret clinical studies of sexual health, researchers might consider measuring mood alongside the sexual outcomes.’
For the study, 101 men and 101 women filled out online surveys about their sexual wellness, including interest in sex, level of activity, discomfort or dysfunction, and satisfaction. The wellbeing of more than half of the participants was affected by chronic conditions, such as cancer, hypertension, arthritis, depression or diabetes, but the rest of the participants were not in treatment for any particular condition. The subjects also rated how much they thought about sex during each day for 30 consecutive days, and were asked about their sexual function at the end of the month.
The results of the study revealed that people were pretty accurate in recalling their sexual function and activity at the end of the month, but this accuracy varied based on what topic was being reported, the person’s gender and the person’s mood. Those in a good mood over-reported on having sex and how good they were at it, but people in bad moods tended to underplay how often they thought about sex. Plus, while both men and women overestimated their interest in sexual activity at the one-month mark compared with daily reports, men overestimated more than women. The researchers surmised that this may be because people ‘fill in the gaps’ in their memory by using gender stereotypes to project what their experiences should have been.
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