Have you ever wondered about the number of people you’ve slept with? Why some have a greater number while others have only a handful? I guess it’s not every day that you wonder about such things, do you? Well, you can stop wondering now as scientists in California have revealed correlation between a person’s height, body mass, and the number of sexual partners they’ve had.
Researchers at Chapman University studied 60,058 heterosexual men and women, and found that very short men and women had fewer sexual partners when compared to people of average height. Also, underweight men and women also reported lower than average numbers of sexual partners. Another notable point that the study found was that men of average to extremely tall height had between one and three more sexual partners than shorter than average men.
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Assistant professor in psychology at Chapman University, Dr David Frederick, said that the findings confirm that height is one of the main factors that influence the ‘mating market.’
He said,
“However, the relatively limited variation in sex partner number for men across the height continuum is difficult to explain.”
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Further, he went on to add,
“Research has repeatedly shown that women prefer men who are relatively taller than they are. It is possible that for most women there is a certain minimum threshold of height, after which they will consider a male as a potential sex partner, and thus men above that height will end up with similar numbers of sex partners.”
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Among the 60,058 people included in the study, the male to female ratio was 52% male to 48% female. Here are some of the highlights of the study:
- For people aged between 30 and 44, the average number of sexual partners recorded was eight, since the time they had been sexually active.
- Among the people included in the study, 58% of men and 56% of women reported having more than five sex partners.
- On the other hand, 29% of men and 56% of women reported more than 14 sexual partners.
- Underweight men and women were found to have fewer sexual partners than average.
- Men in the middle of their body mass indices (BMI) and men who were technically overweight, were found to have the most sexual partners.
Explaining this surprising find, Dr Frederick said,
“Although it may be initially surprising that more overweight men reported the highest number of partners, it is important to note that the medical classification of overweight does not necessarily map onto social perceptions of overweight.” He continued, “Men who appear somewhat larger, more powerful, or more athletic generally reported more sexual experiences than other men.”
Image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
However, there were ‘numerous possibilities’ as to why underweight women were found to have fewer partners. “They may be highly dissatisfied with their weight and suffering from anorexia and thus not motivated to show their bodies; additionally, being underweight is associated with relatively high mortality rate and/or they could be suffering from a variety of ailments that cause weight loss and thus have fewer sex partners because they are dealing with serious health issues.”
Well, there you have it. But we’re not sure if there is anything significant that has been gleaned from the study. Help me understand by sounding off in the comments below.
Featured image source: Pixabay under Creative Commons License
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