And you thought one reason was plenty.
But thanks to John Tierney at the New York Times, we have this report from the frontiers of sociological exploration. Psychologists at the University of Texas asked nearly 2,000 people why they’d had sex and they've come up with 237 reasons including “I was drunk.”
Other reasons included: “burn calories,” “hurt an enemy” or “change the topic of conversation.”
But my favorite was “to return a favor.” Now that's a great way to improve the neighborhood.
Women were more likely to get horizontal because “I wanted to express my love for the person.” Men were more likely because the other person was asleep.
To get a grip on this, the researchers broke the 237 reasons into 4 general categories:
Physical: People want to have sex with attractive people. But, thank God for people like me, that's not the only reason people have sex. There's also...
Goal Attainment: This ranged from revenge to losing a bet. It's the category that holds the most hope for guys who still live with their parents.
Emotional: Men, surprisingly, didn't have much to add to this category.
Insecurity: Maybe I'll look taller lying down.
“I was afraid my partner would have an affair if I didn’t,” was mentioned as a reason, which is just sad. It means no one will have a good time and one person will almost surely resent it. Not a strong foundation for a good relationship, in my opinion, but then I'm no Dr. Phil. Maybe most of the enduring marriages in America are based on this fear of infidelity. That would explain, in part, the electoral success of the Republican Party.
John Tierney mentions that no where in the survey did he see Joan Crawford's reason for sex - a clear complexion - or the GI's lament that he could be dead tomorrow, even if he's a supply sergeant stationed in New jersey.
You can see more of the list and even can nominate your own reasons over at TierneyLab.
Me? I have sex just to annoy conservatives. They hate it when a liberal has a good time.
5 comments:
I don't need a reason. I need an alibi.
I read a news item about this, on Yahoo, and it seems the number one reason, for the 253rd millionth year in a row, is still "because it feels good". Go figure!
Dread
Hope you don't mind me dropping in. I saw you over at a post on Barry's blog.
You have some interesting and funny posts. I enjoyed the visit.
Steve,
Everyone's welcome here at the planet.
We have a lot in common, aside from our age.
My reply would have been, "Because the pay is fantastic!"
As for "I was afraid my partner would have an affair.." let's just say that my wife has a lot more faith in me than that.
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