The Season of Sex: Sex Trends in December (Video)
December 15, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Generally speaking, people tend to have more sex in the summer months than they do in the winter months; however, December is the exception to this winter sex slump. In fact, what the evidence shows is that sexual interest and activity reliably increase this month. This is especially true for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Check out the video below for a fascinating look at all of the changes in our sex lives that take place in December.
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Sources for information contained in this video:
Seasonal changes in sexual activity levels: Cornelisse, V. J., Chow, E. P., Chen, M. Y., Bradshaw, C. S., & Fairley, C. K. (2016). Summer heat: A cross-sectional analysis of seasonal differences in sexual behaviour and sexually transmissible diseases in Melbourne, Australia. Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Seasonal changes in Google search trends for pornography, prostitution, and online dating: Markey, P. M., & Markey, C. N. (2013). Seasonal variation in internet keyword searches: A proxy assessment of sex mating behaviors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(4), 515-521.
Seasonal changes in condom sales and STD rates: Wellings, K., Macdowall, W., Catchpole, M., & Goodrich, J. (1999). Seasonal variations in sexual activity and their implications for sexual health promotion. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 92, 60-64.
Seasonal changes in conception rates: Tita, A. T., Hollier, L. M., & Waller, D. K. (2001). Seasonality in conception of births and influence on late initiation of prenatal care. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 97(6), 976-981.
Seasonal changes in sexual injuries: Phillips, E. A., Esposito, A. J., & Munarriz, R. (2015). Acute penile trauma and associated morbidity: 9‐year experience at a tertiary care center. Andrology, 3(3), 632-636.
Seasonal changes in virginity loss: Levin, M. L., Xu, X., & Bartkowski, J. P. (2002). Seasonality of sexual debut. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(4), 871-884.
For more information on biopsychosocial theories regarding why sexual behavior changes in the winter, check out this article I wrote for TONIC
Music Credit: Winter Wonderful by Kensington Studios, used under license from Shutterstock, 2017
Image Source: 123RF/Vasyl Dolmatov
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Dr. Justin Lehmiller
Founder & Owner of Sex and PsychologyDr. Justin Lehmiller is a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He runs the Sex and Psychology blog and podcast and is author of the popular book Tell Me What You Want. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, and a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works.
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