Conversations about sex life have generated taboo over the years. As a consequence, some people tend to lie regarding the performance, frequency or number of sexual partners they may have, however, anonymous surveys have sought to generate “real” data.
That’s why the National Survey of Family Growth from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generated so many reactions. A 2017 study, published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, indicated that The average adult has sex about 54 times a year, about once a week.
Between 2015 and 2019, this survey asked sexually experienced men and women, ages 25 to 49, about the number of sexual partners they have had over their lifetime. The results showed that the median for women was 4.3 sexual partners, while for men it was slightly higher, at 6.3.
In general terms, 17.7% of participating women reported having only one sexual partner, while in men this percentage was somewhat lower, around 11.2%. Besides, 28.3% of men stated that they had had 15 or more sexual partners in their lives, compared to 12.9% of women who reached that amount.
According to the urologist and sexologist, Mauricio Salas, Social interpretation plays an important role in the difference between men and women in these types of questions. The specialist points out that, when asked about the number of sexual partners, women tend to count only those that have been significant, while men count them all and even tend to exaggerate the number for a social issue.
Additionally, a researcher from the third study ”National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles” carried out by the University of Glasgow, states that three important factors have been identified that explain this gap: the greater tendency among men to provide extreme values, the greater tendency of women to count rather than estimate, and a difference in attitude between both sexes towards casual and non-exclusive sex.”
