Scientific American on Decline in Sex Across the Board

[Anonymous]

Scientific American has an interesting interview with an author of a study showing a decline in sexual activity among young and middle aged, single and partnered, whether alone or with someone else. (I didn't see that the study or studies involved in this conversation talked about people over 50.)
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-have-been-having-less-sex-whether-theyre-teenagers-or-40-somethings/

A recent study evaluating what is happening in the U.S. has added to the pile of evidence, showing declines from 2009 to 2018 in all forms of partnered sexual activity .... Between 2009 and 2018, the proportion of adolescents reporting no sexual activity, either alone or with partners, rose from 28.8 percent to 44.2 percent among young men and from 49.5 percent in 2009 to 74 percent among young women. The researchers obtained the self-reported information from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior and used responses from 4,155 people in 2009 and 4,547 people in 2018. These respondents to the confidential survey ranged in age from 14 to 49 years.

The author figured there were several potential explanations and that just one factor probably wasn't "the reason." But potential factors discussed in the article include social media, video games, increasing acceptability of asexuality, fearfulness about 'rough sex,' socioeconomic declines, and declines in the use of alcohol. The study did not include data since the onset of the pandemic, but the author is asked to speculate on the impact. (She figures it's a mix. More time together at home, but also more time together at home. lol.)

[Anonymous]

Women feeling more empowered to say no as well.

[Anonymous]

Antidepressants and other medications can impact libido.

[Anonymous]

I agree with op-ssris are great but they could definitely be contributing to this.

[Anonymous]

Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

[Anonymous]

I think people are just getting dopamine from other sources (including social media). The diversity of options pushed out other stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people are just getting dopamine from other sources (including social media). The diversity of options pushed out other stuff.

Possibly yes. Just a large variety of things to keep us entertained, social media, video games, Netflix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I’m sure the easy access to porn has a lot to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are just getting dopamine from other sources (including social media). The diversity of options pushed out other stuff.

Possibly yes. Just a large variety of things to keep us entertained, social media, video games, Netflix.

Turns out a lot of sex in the past was due to boredom!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I’m sure the easy access to porn has a lot to do with it.

Maybe not as much as we think. The study showed a decline in adolescents going solo too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I’m sure the easy access to porn has a lot to do with it.

hm.. for me (woman), when I watch porn, I want sex. DH benefits sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I know it is somewhat common, but I still find it wild. I turn to porn because my spouse has an extremely low libido. I never used porn when we were more sexually active.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I’m sure the easy access to porn has a lot to do with it.

Maybe not as much as we think. The study showed a decline in adolescents going solo too.

I hate to break it to you by this generation of adolescents has a huge exposure to porn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just my n=1 experience, but when I was single about 10 years ago, I had 2 long term boyfriends who had little to zero interest in sex but watched a LOT of porn. I’ve had a couple female friends who also had partners that preferred porn over sex.

I know it is somewhat common, but I still find it wild. I turn to porn because my spouse has an extremely low libido. I never used porn when we were more sexually active.

Same. Wife and I have sex 1x a month which leaves 29 other days with an alternative, often porn. Not my preference, the real thing is much better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are just getting dopamine from other sources (including social media). The diversity of options pushed out other stuff.

Possibly yes. Just a large variety of things to keep us entertained, social media, video games, Netflix.

Turns out a lot of sex in the past was due to boredom!

How long did sex take then....it seems an inefficient way to deal with boredom