A recent study discovered that Millennials are having less sex than previous generations. Scientists reported that Millennials and iGen-ers born in the 1980s and 1990s had no sexual partners after age 18.
The study led by San Diego State University psychology professors, Jean Twenge and Ryne Sherman, unveiled that only a few percentage of Millennials are having premarital intercourses. Detailed results were published on August 3 in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. The team of researchers assessed answers from people aged 20 to 24 of a survey about sex. Researchers found out that a major proportion of Millennials reported they are sexually inactive.
Twenge and her colleagues examined data from the General Social Survey collected between 1989 and 2014. Researchers said they used this data because it poses all the right questions for the study.
Study’s authors reported the General Social Survey contains demographic information about each participant, which let Twenge and Sherman to compare differences concerned with sexual activity based on race, gender, education level, region and religious service attendance.
The results unveiled that Millennials (born starting in the 1980s) and iGen (born in the ’90s) are less likely to be sexually active compared with young adults from Generation X (born in the 1960s and ’70s).
About 15 percent of Millennials reported they had had no sexual partners since turning 18. There is only a 6 percent of Gen X’ers born in the 1960s who reported they had no sexual partners when they were young.
It was also discovered that levels of sexual inactivity varied depending on gender, race, scholarship and geographical situation. Inactivity in sexual relationships has increased among women, white people, people who do not attend college and those living in the east.
“Millennials tend to be more individualistic”
Regarding the causes for the trend, researchers did not specify reasons justifying sexual inactivity, in a generation that everyone believed was pretty sexually active. However, they did offer some possible explanations to explain the results.
As per Twenge, Millenials tend to be more individualistic when making decisions about having or not premarital sex. It seems that Millennials take into consideration safety before getting into bed with someone else.
“This generation might feel more free to not have sex, if that’s their choice. This generation is much more concerned about safety on both a physical and an emotional level,” Twenge said.
Among other possible causes, scientists have pointed out that technology and financial status might also be playing a role in the trend. Technology might be replacing direct contact with others, which makes more difficult a sexual encounter.
The fact of living with their parents might also be a good reason to explain sexual inactivity in young people. If young adults do not count with an own space to take a sexual partner, the possibilities or returning home alone are higher.
Source: Archives of Sexual Behavior