Study: Average American Has Over 9 Million Imagined Sexual Partners In Lifetime

“From their teenage years onward, most individuals have hundreds of thousands of fantasized sexual partners every year, beginning with attractive teachers and classmates, and eventually expanding to wholly dreamt-up relations with good-looking coworkers or people on the subway,” said lead researcher Kevin Douglas, adding that even married individuals had upwards of 4 million completely imagined sexual partners outside of wedlock. “And the factor of age is minimal, as people well into their golden years were more than capable of sexual intercourse with dozens of partners in their mind every single day.” Douglas added that a significant proportion of Americans also conjured up sexual relations with two or more partners simultaneously 2.5 million times.

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Surprise, surprise, surprise. Humans are sexual beings. Who would have thought it? Our sexuality is a natural part of who we are as individuals, and as a species. Though I'm not sure I'm buying the 9 million, the 4 million, or even the 2.5 million figures this study throws out there. They make it sound as if all any of us ever think about is sex. Ok. That may be true for some of us, but by their figures, we will all imagine ourselves having sex with over 308 partners today given an 80 year lifespan. What!? Erm...No.

a reply to: Klassified
It must be subconscious, or I am way, way below average.
1 million is a pretty big number.

This article doesn't link the actual study. It would be good to know what variables are involved and what sample they took from the population. It seems extreme to me unless someone thinks of nothing but sex all the time. I mean they are talking hundreds of these fantasies daily. I don't do that. I'm pretty sure none of my friends and family members always have sex on the mind either.

a reply to: Klassified

I guarantee you that I crush that figure.... Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing? haha

The first thing that springs to mind is "Would I put my penis inside her?" and it is literally anybody above 3 out of 10 on the "Would you" rate board.

So yeah, 9 million - Easy

Gee, now I feel really abnormal. I'm more interested in working on things than having sexual fantasies. Now, is drooling over a nice old car driving by count?

originally posted by: Klassified
...
but by their figures, we will all imagine ourselves having sex with over 308 partners today given an 80 year lifespan. What!? Erm...No.

I agree that this seem literally impossible. Are they counting subconscious little "blips" where you aren't even aware that your body/brain thought about sex? Because if they are only count outright thoughts of having sex with someone, then I don't see how it would be possible.

As a woman, I found this whole thing is cyclical. Sometimes, I really don't think about sex at all. I could take it or leave it. No big deal. But midcycle (in other words, "when fertile") then I can be a bit - er - obsessed. I am very happily married and have zero interest in actually having sex with anyone other than my husband... but during those "fertile days" it really doesn't matter if a guy is a "1" or a "10"... any man I see I will, at least briefly and in passing, imagine having sex with him.

Classy, eh? Well, I never have and never would act on such thoughts so hopefully my husband forgives me. They really seem more biological than any sort of real desire, if that makes sense.

Of course, right now I am pregnant... so definitely not fertile at the moment... but yet my thoughts do seem to more often be about sex than not. Hmmm. So maybe my theory about fertility doesn't hold water. But, I do stand by the idea that for women it can be cyclical and hormonally driven. It seems like with men, they are sort of in that mode all the time.

And... if that is true... if guys are always thinking the way I am think just a few days a month then I don't know how you guys get anything done, ever. EVER.

My first thought was that I've had more real-life sexual partners than imaginary ones, which tend to be the same ones over and over... That's not to say I've had millions. LOL I just think I'm way below normal in imagined partners... I prefer real ones.

Does this apply to Women as well?????
Put's a whole new spin on chatting up a women, I know you want it 9,000,000 times.

a reply to: Klassified

This is actually a satirical piece from "theonion", which the mods caught very quickly, and I figured most ATSers would as well. Nevertheless, I posted it for fun, and because there is a small ring of truth to it, in that we are sexual creatures, living in a society that seldom approves of our natural inclination as humans. Sex is still a dirty word unfortunately, and our society still seems hell bent on forcing us to repress our sexuality. Even in the 21rst century.

My point being, this would naturally cause a rise in the "fantasy life" of most humans. So the basis of the article may indeed have some merit, even if the figures are exponentially higher than imaginable.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic
My first thought was that I've had more real-life sexual partners than imaginary ones, which tend to be the same ones over and over... That's not to say I've had millions. LOL I just think I'm way below normal in imagined partners... I prefer real ones.

Me too.

originally posted by:VegHead
An interesting take on this. I can see what you're saying, and have heard other females express similar thoughts.

a reply to: VegHead

Classy, eh? Well, I never have and never would act on such thoughts so hopefully my husband forgives me.

You are classy.
The is nothing for your husband to forgive, because you are classy and never acted on the impulse.

9 million seems a bit of a stretch, even for the men.

someone asked if women do the same thing men do and the answer is yes for most of us anyways, we do imagine what many of the men we meet would be like as sexual partners. It does not stop as we age or get married either.

For women though our first thought tends to be "I wonder what "it" looks like" from there we make a mental picture, look at the hands, back at the face and then from there our imaginations run wild. It usually takes a few seconds longer for our brains to imagine a sexual encounter than it does for men.

308 a day no not likely ever, but anywhere from maybe 2-20 ......depends on what we are watching or doing. At the gym, watching Vikings, sipping coffee while watching construction men build things, watching Vikings lol....you get the picture. We are sexual beings same as the men.

Interesting article, even if it is satire there is still a bit of truth...though stretched.

Hmmm, I don't think I think about sex that much, but I can think about it a lot. Although for me it's characters in my stories, and they tend to be aspects of myself and their partners tend to be aspects of my husband with maybe dashes of other guys I've known and liked thrown in. In terms of how I imagine they both look ... could be anything really. But in a sense, it's almost like thinking about myself having sex with my husband only it's a fantasy?

An generally it's something I do when I'm bored at work and doing a task that's essentially more or less auto-pilot (sad that proofreading is auto-pilot). I do it to distract myself, and the sex part is only part of the overall story. However, I might go back and revisit the "juicy" bits of the story ...