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Medical myths: Men think about sex every seven seconds

Medical myths: Men think about sex every seven seconds

This rather saucy myth has been doing the rounds for decades, but do men really have sex on the brain so often? Dr Max Pemberton is back to myth busting…

Where did the myth come from?

It's rumoured that it originates from the Kinsey Institute, founded in 1947 at Indiana University to investigate sexual behaviour, but the institute has never published research on men thinking about sex.

The myth clearly resonates with the idea that men are obsessed with sex, so it's often quoted by reputable sources as fact.

 

What's the truth?

medical myth

If the average man is awake for 16 hours a day, that would mean he'd have to think about sex 57,000 times a day. How would he have time to do anything else! Research actually shows that there's great variation.

About half report thinking about sex once or several times a day. About 40 percent say they think about it a few times a week or month, with the remainder thinking about it less than once a month. That means that about half of men don't even think about it every day.

 

So, there's nothing to worry about?

It's interesting that the myth focuses on men and totally ignores women. In fact, research shows that just with men, there's great variation.

On average, women tend to think about sex slightly less, with only 20 percent thinking about it daily and 60 percent thinking about it a few times a week or month. Of course, there's a problem with this type of research. The more you think about the research, the more you'll think about… well, you get the idea.
 

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