Say What? Millennials Have Fewer Sex Partners Than Their Parents Did, Study Reveals
A new study has revealed that, despite the rise of hookup culture, millennials are actually having sex with fewer partners than their parents.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, analyzed data from 33,000 U.S. adults about their sexual behaviors, based on surveys conducted between 1972 and 2012.
Those who came of age in WWII—known as "the Greatest Generation"—had only three sexual partners on average, but Baby Boomers admitted to sleeping with 11 people in their lives. (Did they hook these people up to lie detector tests?)
In contrast, millennials land somewhere in the middle—averaging eight sexual partners.
Twenge suggests that knowledge of STIs and unwanted pregnancy is more widespread among millennials, leading to many waiting longer to have sex. But approval of premarital sex and homosexuality is at an all time high—which would suggest less social taboos on casual sex.
And, of course, millennials are only in their twenties, so there's still plenty of time for them to up those digits.
What's the takeaway, then?
"Millennials are more accepting of premarital sex than any previous generation, yet have had fewer sexual partners than GenX'ers. This is consistent with their image as a tolerant, individualistic generation accepting others' choices and making their own," Twenge said. “The majority of Americans now believe there’s nothing wrong with sex before marriage."
Twenge adds that teaching abstinence in schools "seems increasingly untenable.”
Graphics: The Washington Post
