Media Watch August 1, 2007

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

By Sam Petri

237 reasons and counting…
Columnist John Tierney of The New York Times recently reported on a human sexual study published in the current issue of “Archives of Sexual Behavior” by two psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin. After asking nearly 2,000 people why they’d have sex, researchers Dr. Cindy M. Meston and Dr. David M. Buss, compiled a list of 237 motivations to do the horizontal mambo.

The two researchers believe that their list is “the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled,” according to the report.

Reasons to have at it ranged from the classic “I was ‘n the heat of the moment” to the religious “I wanted to feel closer to God” to the shamefully hilarious, “I was slumming.”  But to make sense of all 237, Dr. Meston and Dr. Buss broke down the reasons into four categories.

The physical: “The person had an attractive face” or “had a desirable body.” 
Goal Attainment: “I wanted to enhance my reputation” to the more common “pure pleasure” of it.
Emotional: “I wanted to express my love for the person.” Or conversely “I wanted the person to love me.”
And finally insecurity: “I wanted to keep my partner happy,” “keep my partner from straying,” and “to boost my self-esteem.”

You can download the complete list at tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com and contribute to the list if you feel you may have the 238th reason. Rest assured the most popular reason for both men and women is the classic “I was attracted to the person.”

Other top ten results were “I wanted to express my love for the person,” “I was sexually aroused and wanted the release” and “It’s fun.”
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Media Watch August 1, 2007 | Planet JH News Article: Media Watch

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