ABC News Sex Survey - Average number of Sexual Partners (for a lifetime)

[Bob Ross]

I found this online awhile back and found it interesting. It is an ABC News survey of sexual habits and experiences from 2004. Specifically, I would like to draw attention to Page 4, which displays the average number of sexual partners per lifetime and Page 17 which outlines the methodology (1,500 responses, phone survey, etc.)....

What do you think about this finding in particular?:

MEDIAN NUMBER OF LIFETIME SEXUAL PARTNERS:
Men: 8
Women: 3

I have my thoughts on the validity of the methodology but, frankly, I would expect a phone survey to result in more grandiose numbers...Read. Enjoy. Discuss...

http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/959a1AmericanSexSurvey.pdf

 

[D_George Tush]

Then who the hell are all the men fucking?

 

[Bob Ross]

Then who the hell are all the men fucking?

...Perhaps other men!(?)

These numbers do seem very low, don't they? (at least for an entire lifetime)

 

[D_George Tush]

I know some women. Who more or less have slept with 30+. So I call bullshit.

 

[tamati]

3?
Garbage.

 

[Bob Ross]

^^ I agree with those above who say these numbers seem low..

Keep in mind that the averages are 6 and 20 (women and men, respectively)

Also, see question 36 on Page 22: there are some people who responded with large numbers of sexual partners, but most responded between 2 and 10

 

[Thirdlegproduction]

define having sex.

Men's definition; anything where skin was involved
Women's definition; Only the times where they felt true passion, all the times she performed oral sex don't count.

 

[flawdatiger]

I have a friend ( a couple actually) who have only slept with one person in his entire life.

With that said, I have NO idea how many people I have slept with in my entire life.

It's definitely over 8

 

[drabman]

It might be a little low, but not hugely so. I doubt that a lot of people have as many partners as people on here claim. I know many women in their forties who've mostly seemed to have medium or long-term relationships in their lives, or have been married for a long time. Unless they were all cheating regularly, 4 or 5 sexual partners doesn't seem unreasonable. I don't think women go hunting for, or are as receptive to, one-night stands as much as some here seem to believe.

 

[KingKoopa]

I have only been with 7

 

[pcghabsy]

I know some women. Who more or less have slept with 30+. So I call bullshit.

Well, you have conservative countries like India or China - i.e. 35% of the world between them - where arranged marriage was still the norm till few years ago and most people have only slept with their spouse.

 

[D_Chesty_Pecjiggle]

define having sex.

Men's definition; anything where skin was involved
Women's definition; Only the times where they felt true passion, all the times she performed oral sex don't count.

Hysterical. And true.

 

[wappingite]

I think it really depends on what definition of sex is used. Does frottage, masturbation and oral count? Or is it full-on penetration? I find the numbers incredibly low. In the link, they do acknowledge 5% of men had 99 or more partners and 1% of women with 99 or more. I'm taking this study with a grain of salt because it was conducted by ABC Prime Time Live. It's not clear who the sample populations were. Most people aren't going to tell a stranger over the phone how many people they "really" slept with.

Maybe I just run in really sexually open and active circles. Many people I know could not give an answer without extrapolating it.

 

[At.your.cervix]

That makes me a huge outlyer.

 

[Incocknito]

Consider that the average man:

Has average looks
Is in average physical condition
Makes an average income

And you realise that most men are not out 'cheating' or shagging every woman they see. Some men are but most men are staying with the "sure thing", a committed relationship.

Wheareas women get a lot more opportunities, even if they are "fugly" or "average" in the looks department.

In the animal kingdom 90% of males die virgins. But almost all females will reproduce, or be "bred" (lol).

 

[houtx48]

I have only been with 7

call us back with the count when you get to 21............

 

[houtx48]

I have only been with 7

call us back with a count where you are 21

 

[B_625girth]

wonder if they would have droppped the phone when they called me and I told them I have slept with 50 women more or less.

 

[ShannonH]

Then who the hell are all the men fucking?

Exactly. It's amazing how poor at math the general public is if the majority thinks these numbers make sense. In hetero relationships, the average number of partners per woman must equal the average number of partners per man.

Take a simplified case where you have 10 women and 10 men. One man has slept with all ten women and no other man has slept with any woman, therefore each woman has slept with one man.
So average number of partners for a man is:
(10 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0)/10 = 1
Average partners for a woman is:
(1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1)/10 = 1

It doesn't matter what the overall distribution is for each average, they must always be equal.

I think the people saying that this is just a difference in how men define sex are right. Women are quick to say that a certain person didn't count, while a lot of men will count that time they pushed up against a girl on a crowded subway. There's also that when surveyed by an actual person (even if they're not recording the name, just having a human voice do it) women are more likely to lower their number and men to raise it. When tests do a secret ballot or are hooked up to a lie-detector (which don't work btw, but have the psychological effect of convincing someone they shouldn't lie), the numbers move closer together and it's usually about 6.

Also, keep in mind that whenever you measure a 'lifetime' stat, you can only get it for people whose lifetimes are over. If most people are 77 when they die, then you're learning how many partners people born in the 30s had. If you're just surveying people at 30 and assuming most are married, then your number must always be low (because those surveyed can always have more partners, but their number definitely can't go down.)

 

[B_jeepguy2]

Glad they didn't call me because I lost count back when I was in college. I honestly have no clue how many people I have had sex with.