Technology Could Be Changing Sexual Habits: Survey Finds Brits Are Having Less, But More Diverse Sex
People are having sex less frequently in Britain, and some experts believe technology is to blame.
“People have tablets and smartphones, and they are taking them into the bedroom, using Twitter and Facebook, answering emails,” Dr. Cath Mercer, of University College in London, told BBC News.
Britain’s National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles polled over 15,000 people between the ages of 16 and 74 about their sex lives. Researchers conducted interviews with participants from Sept. 2010 to Aug. 2012, and then compiled the data into a comprehensive six-paper series. The survey boasts that it is “one of the biggest and most comprehensive studies of sexual behavior undertaken in a single country.” From their interviews, researchers found three important things: people are having sex less frequently, people are more apt to expand their sexual repertoire than before, and women are engaging in sex with more partners than before.
“It reflects a shift away from sex being seen purely in the context of reproduction, [and] toward a greater emphasis on pleasure and recreation," said Kaye Wellings, head of social and environmental health research at the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine, according to the Associated Press.
Half of the study participants reported having sex at least three times during the month before the interview. When the survey was done in 1990, about half of the participants said that they had sex at least five times during the previous month. Wellings attributes the drop in how frequently people engage in sexual activity to the more widespread use of technology and the financial crisis. And she may be on to something.
"Technology is clearly a rampant influence in today's society and naturally it pulls focus from actual people,” Jo Hudson, founder of the Kinky Times, told the Huffington Post UK. “People touch their smart phones more than they touch their partners. For our money, phone bans at bedtime are as crucial as technology embargoes at the dinner table."
And frequency of sex isn’t the only thing that’s changed since 1990. Brits reported expanding their sexual repertoire to include different body parts and more same sex partners. About 16 percent of women reported having had a same-sex experience, as compared to about seven percent of men. And both genders reported having more anal and oral sex as well.
But women, by far, seem to have embraced sexuality in a whole new way since the first study. According to AP, the average number of sexual partners reported by women has doubled since the first survey, moving up from four to eight. Among men, the average number of sexual partners rose from nine to 12.
“There's been a relaxation of constraints on sexual expression," said Debra Lynne Herbenick, who led a similar survey in the United States, according to AP. "People are now more free to explore their sexual interests."
For more information on Britain’s National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, visit TheLancet.com.