January 22, 2025 by Emily Mendelson
Every year, we publish an updated state of sexual education in the United States based on data from the Guttmacher Institute. Because each state has its own requirements (or lack thereof) about what a sexual education curriculum should cover, we’ll highlight some of the key points to note about where things stand at the start...
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December 12, 2024 by Merissa Prine
The holiday season is often described as the most wonderful time of the year. For many people, it’s also the most wonderful time to be in the bedroom. As we’ve...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
November 27, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
In need of shopping inspiration for the sexy people in your life? Here are some sex-themed gift ideas and deals (mostly) inspired by science for everyone on your list. Give...
Books & Films, Sex Ed
October 11, 2024 by Merissa Prine
We are excited to announce that our study abroad program with Sexual Health Alliance is back for 2025! We will be returning to Amsterdam once again, but we’re also offering...
Sex Ed
October 3, 2024 by Emily Mendelson
Condoms are a highly effective tool at preventing unplanned pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. In fact, with perfect use, condoms have an efficacy rate as high as...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
September 16, 2024 by Merissa Prine
We’re thrilled to announce the next annual SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference, which will take place next February, just before the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s annual meeting. This will be...
Sex Ed
September 12, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
**This post is sponsored by Xersizer. Penis pumps are valuable tools that can help men to improve their sexual well-being. In fact, research has shown that these devices have the...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
September 4, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
Today is World Sexual Health Day and the theme is “Positive Relationships.” To mark this occasion, I’ve been collaborating with Feeld, the dating app for the curious, on a groundbreaking report...
Psychology, Sex Ed
August 29, 2024 by Emily Mendelson
As technology continues to evolve, there are an increasing number of ways to connect with others and experience digital intimacy. In other words, it’s easier than ever to explore sex...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
August 15, 2024 by Merissa Prine
Talking about sex can be tricky, especially when it comes to the topic of STIs. Research shows that a lot of people avoid direct conversations about this due to fear...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
July 3, 2024 by Merissa Prine
In today’s digital age, education is rapidly evolving to incorporate innovative technologies that enhance learning. One such technological advancement is the development of sophisticated artificial intelligence language models, like OpenAI’s...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
June 12, 2024 by Merissa Prine
Recently, I had the pleasure of traveling across the globe to learn and study with Dr. Lehmiller on his study abroad course with the Sexual Health Alliance. When I first...
Media & Culture, Psychology, Sex Ed
May 8, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
I’m currently in the midst of teaching a study abroad course on sex and culture in Amsterdam. One of the topics we cover extensively in this course is sex work,...
Sex Ed
April 24, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
**This post is sponsored by MailMyMeds Erectile Dysfunction (ED) affects millions of men across the globe, yet discussions surrounding it often remain in the shadows due to stigma and feelings...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
March 21, 2024 by Merissa Prine
In the annals of sex research, there are many unsung heroes whose contributions have shaped our understandings and practices related to sexuality today. Among them stands Dr. June Dobbs Butts,...
Media & Culture, Sex Ed
February 1, 2024 by Emily Mendelson
The third edition of The Psychology of Human Sexuality by Dr. Justin Lehmiller is officially available! This textbook is a comprehensive guide to major theoretical perspectives on human sexuality, and...
Books & Films, Sex Ed
January 11, 2024 by Merissa Prine
Sex education in the United States has been a subject of unending controversy for years. Unlike many other developed countries, the US approach to sex education varies widely across states,...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
December 27, 2023 by Justin Lehmiller
As 2023 winds down, let’s look back at this year’s ten most read articles on Sex and Psychology. The following posts represent a very diverse range of content and, combined,...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
November 23, 2023 by Merissa Prine
Happy Thanksgiving! Since many of us are currently in the season of giving thanks and are reminded of all of the wonderful things we are thankful for, we wanted to...
Sex Ed
November 8, 2023 by Justin Lehmiller
I’m excited to announce that my study abroad program in conjunction with the Sexual Health Alliance is back for another year! We are offering study abroad courses in both Amsterdam...
Sex Ed
October 5, 2023 by Merissa Prine
Sex and Psychology’s Dr. Justin Lehmiller was the recipient of the inaugural Ellen Laan Award for Translational Sexual Science from the International Academy of Sex Research (IASR) this summer. Ellen...
Sex Ed
September 18, 2023 by Emily Mendelson
We are pleased to announce the eleventh annual SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference! It will be held next February prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology....
Sex Ed
July 12, 2023 by Olivia Adams
A couple of weeks ago, we released a blog post on an excellent resource developed by Dr. Steven Rouse that pairs episodes of the Sex and Psychology podcast with chapters...
Sex Ed
July 3, 2023 by Olivia Adams
Sex education in the U.S. leaves much to be desired. And because young people oftentimes cannot depend on formal education through school to learn about sex, they may stumble upon...
Sex Ed
June 26, 2023 by Emily Mendelson
We’re excited to announce that the third edition of Dr. Lehmiller’s The Psychology of Human Sexuality textbook is now available for pre-order! The updated text will arrive in fall 2023, giving...
Sex Ed
May 24, 2023 by Emily Mendelson
“We are the recorders and reporters of facts—not the judges of the behaviors we describe.” – Alfred Kinsey Founded in 1947 at Indiana University, the Kinsey Institute is the premier...
Media & Culture, Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed, Sex Q&A
May 4, 2023 by Olivia Adams
Heterosexual men’s difficulty in finding the clitoris has been a running gag in the popular media for quite some time. And there’s more than a hint of truth to it:...
Gender, Sex Ed
March 22, 2023 by Emily Mendelson
The state of sex education in the USA is vastly different across states. As of May 2023, there are 23 states that do not require sex education for high school...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
February 9, 2023 by Olivia Adams
AI is getting smarter. It can produce text that’s virtually indistinguishable from a human, and it has a massive knowledge base. So what will it mean for the future? What...
Media & Culture, Sex Ed
February 2, 2023 by Emily Mendelson
OnlyFans is a digital patronage platform with over two million independent sex workers and a user base of 170 million registered accounts. Given the speed at which OnlyFans use gained...
Kink & BDSM, Media & Culture, Sex Ed
December 29, 2022 by Olivia Adams
2022 has been memorable for a lot of reasons—including what science taught us about sex. So here’s a quick recap of some of the many interesting things we learned about...
Sex Ed
November 30, 2022 by Olivia Adams
Consider this — what if you could take a class in which your homework was to watch porn every week? This is what Lustery, an online porn platform that focuses...
Sex Ed
July 4, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
According to Gallup’s 2022 Moral Issues Survey, American adults’ views on sexual morality have become more liberal since the turn of the century. In fact, for some of the issues on this...
Sex Ed
May 30, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
Research finds that nearly half of American adults (46%) have used marijuana in some way at least once before. People use it for all kinds of purposes, from pain relief...
Sex Ed
May 16, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
The leak of a draft decision from the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade has reinvigorated public discourse on abortion in a way I haven’t previously seen in my...
Sex Ed
May 2, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
It’s May, and that means it’s Masturbation Month yet again! So let’s talk about self-pleasure. The origins of Masturbation Month date back to 1995, when US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders...
Sex Ed, Videos
April 18, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
April 20th is popularly known as 4/20 Day. It’s an unofficial (for now!) holiday that celebrates all things marijuana. This is going to be a hot topic of conversation this...
Sex Ed
January 31, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
Teens across the United States have wildly inconsistent experiences with sex education. As of January 2022, there are 21 states that do not require sex ed, and even in those...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
January 17, 2022 by Justin Lehmiller
There’s an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which an argument takes place over whether a woman has a “big vagina” or her ex-partner has a “small penis.” While this...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
December 30, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
2021 has been memorable for a lot of reasons—including what science taught us about sex. Here’s a quick recap of some of the most interesting things we learned about sex...
Sex Ed
December 13, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex therapist Dr. Shirley Zussman passed away on December 4, 2021 at the age of 107. She had a remarkably long career in the field, having earned her doctorate in...
Sex Ed, Videos
October 27, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you’ve probably seen articles I’ve posted about seasonal variations in sexual behavior. According to the research, one of the biggest peaks occurs...
Sex Ed
October 4, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
When people think about orgasms, they usually think about sex and masturbation. Orgasms arise from sexual stimulation, right? That’s certainly the most common route to orgasm for most people, but...
Sex Ed, Uncategorized
September 6, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
In my study abroad course on sex and culture in the Netherlands, one of the things we have been discussing is cross-cultural differences in sexual health and sex education. Teens’ sexual...
Media & Culture, Sex Ed
September 1, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Today in my study abroad course on sex and culture in the Netherlands, we’re focusing on sex work, particularly the link between sex work and mental health. Many studies have...
Media & Culture, Sex Ed
August 30, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Greetings from Amsterdam! Today is the first day of a class I’m teaching on sex and culture in the Netherlands through the Sexual Health Alliance. Amsterdam is an awesome city—and...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
August 4, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Somnophilia refers to a sexual interest in which someone is turned on by the idea of having sex with a person who is sleeping—or being asleep and receiving sexual attention...
Fantasies, Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 28, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
You all know that I’m an advocate for sex toys. The data are clear that most people who use them report benefits and overwhelmingly positive effects. For example, sex toys are an...
Sex Ed
July 21, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Some people are turned on by the idea of having sex with a partner who is sleeping—or being asleep and receiving sexual attention from someone else. This sexual interest is...
Fantasies, Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 19, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
What are the keys to having good casual sex? This question is at the forefront of Dr. Zhana Vrangalova’s program of research. I recently interviewed Zhana for the Sex and...
Sex Ed
July 7, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
According to Gallup’s 2021 Moral Issues Survey, Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to become more liberal overall. In fact, for some of the issues on this survey, Gallup recorded the...
Sex Ed
July 7, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Many people view pornography as a public health hazard, arguing that it’s inherently bad for our sex lives, relationships, and mental health. Embedded in a lot of arguments about the...
Sex Ed
June 23, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
“We are the recorders and reporters of facts—not the judges of the behaviors we describe.” – Alfred Kinsey Today (June 23) marks the birthday of Dr. Alfred Kinsey, one of...
Sex Ed
June 21, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
When people describe the traits they want in a partner, honesty usually comes in near the top of the list. However, despite the fact that we say we want partners who will...
Sex Ed
June 14, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Virtual reality (VR) pornography is a small but growing market in the adult industry. As the cost of this technology comes down in price and becomes more accessible to a...
Sex Ed
June 7, 2021 by Katie Adams
Guest post by Katie Adams “I’ve been really tryin’, baby / Tryin’ to hold back this feeling for so long / And if you feel like I feel, baby /...
Sex Ed
May 31, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Consensual nonmonogamy is a relationship style in which all partners openly agree to the possibility of having more than one sexual and/or romantic relationship at a time. These relationships are...
Sex Ed
May 26, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, much was said and written about sex and masturbation in the popular media. The implication of many stories was that people were going...
Sex Ed
May 24, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
I get asked about the future of sex a lot, and one of the topics that often comes up is how robots are going to change our intimate lives and...
Gender, Sex Ed
May 19, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
A lot of research has examined how men and women respond to proposals for casual sex; however, the bulk of this research has focused on people who are heterosexual. This...
Gender, LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
May 17, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
In recent years, Americans’ sexual attitudes have become more liberal. For example, public opinion polls have found that the number of American adults who think that things like sex outside...
Sex Ed
May 12, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the questions I’m asked most often by journalists these days is what sex and relationships will look like after the pandemic. As a result, I’ve spent quite a...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
May 10, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
How do you look back on your first sexual experience? For some people, it’s remembered positively, whereas for others, it is a source of regret and shame because they feel...
Gender, Sex Ed
May 3, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
It wasn’t that long ago that virginity was a highly coveted trait in a romantic partner. Sexual inexperience was valued, whereas being sexually experienced was often considered a dealbreaker, especially...
Sex Ed
April 26, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
When people are surveyed about which behaviors count as “having sex,” it’s nearly impossible to find 100% agreement on anything. For example, studies of college students find that, while most...
Sex Ed
April 21, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
When asked to describe a memorable regret, the things people mention most often involve love, sex, and romance [1]. For example, common regrets include lost opportunities (like “the one that...
Sex Ed
April 19, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
April 20th is known by many as 4/20 Day and it’s an unofficial holiday that celebrates all things marijuana (to read up on the history of 4/20 Day, check out...
Sex Ed
April 14, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
People tend to think of personality as a relatively stable characteristic of the self that doesn’t usually change much over the course of our lives. However, this way of thinking...
Sex Ed
April 5, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
In the last couple of years, I seem to have become the go-to person for journalists and sex therapists who want to know how common a given sexual fantasy is....
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
March 29, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Rebound sex is generally defined as sexual activity that someone seeks out in order get over an ex or move on after a breakup [1]. In other words, rebound sex...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
March 17, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Most of the time that you see BDSM discussed or mentioned in the popular media, it is referenced as a sexual activity. In other words, it’s largely seen as something...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
March 8, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
As a sex educator, I’ve been asked many times over the years why men often wake up with erections (or “morning wood,” as they’re known colloquially). In this post, I’ll...
Sex Ed
March 3, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
It is well known that depression—and certain drug treatments for depression, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—can lower sexual interest, desire, and activity levels. However, it turns out that...
Sex Ed
February 24, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Earlier this week, I wrote an article about how infectious organisms transmitted through sex can potentially alter the sexual behavior patterns of the host. By encouraging the host to engage...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
February 22, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Most of us like to think of ourselves as having free will. We engage in behaviors—sexually and otherwise—because we choose to do so, right? But what if this wasn't entirely...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed, Videos
February 17, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
In my previous post, I discussed results from a recent study exploring how young adults define “rough sex” and their enjoyment of this activity. Today, I’m going to be discussing...
Sex Ed
February 15, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Rough sex is one of the most popular sexual fantasies. In fact, when I surveyed 4,175 Americans about their fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want, I found...
Sex Ed
February 1, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people report having dreams about sex at least occasionally. In fact, research has found that the vast majority of both men (93%) and women (86%) say they have had...
Sex Ed
January 25, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
We know that there have been multiple changes in sexual behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, which I’ve blogged extensively about before (for a summary of some of the main findings,...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
January 8, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently received a long letter from a reader who asked, “Can I (or should I) try to change my sexual fantasies in order to reduce conflict in my marriage?”...
Sex Ed, Sex Q&A
January 1, 2021 by Justin Lehmiller
Each time a new year rolls around, a lot of us start making resolutions for self-improvement. I suspect more people than usual may be making New Year’s resolutions right now...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
December 30, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
2020 has been memorable for a lot of reasons—including what science taught us about sex. Here’s a quick recap of some of the most interesting things we learned about sex...
Sex Ed
December 25, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Porn searches are seasonal. According to Pornhub, the content that people look for seems to vary significantly over the course of the year in relation to different holidays and events....
Sex Ed
December 25, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Our sexual behaviors ebb and flow throughout the year—and so do our porn searches. It turns out that what people look for on adult sites is, in part, a function...
Sex Ed
December 21, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Throughout this pandemic, I’ve been interviewed by dozens of journalists about the impact COVID-19 has had on our intimate lives. One question that keeps coming up in these interviews is:...
Sex Ed
December 9, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A question I often get asked in interviews about my book Tell Me What You Want is whether I learned about any new kinks in the process of studying more...
Sex Ed
November 16, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Threesomes are one of the most popular sexual fantasies. But how many people have ever made the leap from fantasy to reality? And who’s most likely to have had a...
Sex Ed
November 6, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Women don’t always orgasm during vaginal intercourse, especially if clitoral stimulation isn’t part of the equation. In fact, in a nationally representative study of more than 1,000 women from the...
Sex Ed
November 2, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a powerful impact on people’s sexual and romantic lives. At the Kinsey Institute, we conducted a study to explore how people’s intimate lives have fared...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
November 2, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
When it comes to sex toy use, there is a pretty sizeable gap between men and women. Studies have consistently found that women use sex toys during masturbation at much...
Gender, Sex Ed
October 26, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Nudism (also known as naturism) is a practice—and sometimes a lifestyle—that centers around non-sexual public nudity. As someone who grew up in the United States, I learned very early on...
Sex Ed
October 23, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Research reports on multiple orgasms in women date back nearly a century. Despite this, surprisingly little has been published on what women’s experiences with multiple orgasms are like. There’s also...
Sex Ed
October 16, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader asked the following question:“My wife claims she has no sexual fantasies. Is this possible?”Sexual fantasies are usually defined as waking mental images or pictures that one finds to...
Sex Ed
October 12, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Cuckolding is a sexual practice in which one is aroused by the idea of watching or listening to their partner have sex with someone else. I’ve written quite a bit...
Gender, Sex Ed
October 9, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to deliberate, self-inflicted damage to the body that is intended to cause pain, but not to end one’s life. NSSI is not uncommon—in fact, some reports...
Sex Ed
October 7, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve been urged to keep our distance from other people in order to reduce transmission rates. These social distancing guidelines—combined with lockdowns, quarantines, and closures...
Sex Ed
September 29, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
In my last post, I wrote about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the frequency with which people say they fantasize about sex, as well as people’s reasons for having...
Sex Ed
September 28, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Kissing is among the most common sexual and romantic behaviors. Although it isn’t a universal activity across cultures (in fact, researchers haven't found evidence of kissing in a surprisingly large...
Sex Ed
September 14, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Popular media—films, television shows, and books—are common sources of sexual fantasy inspiration. In fact, in the study of 4,175 Americans’ sexual fantasies I conducted for my book Tell Me What...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
September 9, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Research has found that different people define sex in radically different ways.Most research to date has focused on heterosexual, college-age adults and their views of sex, which reveals that penetrative...
Sex Ed
September 4, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Kissing is one of the most common sexual and romantic behaviors in many cultures around the world; however, kissing is far from a universal activity. In fact, researchers haven't found...
Sex Ed
August 28, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
What’s going on in the world of sex and relationship research right now? Here’s a brief recap of the latest and greatest happenings. In this edition, we’ll review a new...
Sex Ed
August 26, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
According to numerous media reports, sex toy retailers around the world reported a surge in sales since the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic began, especially during the period when lockdowns were widespread.Of...
Sex Ed
August 24, 2020 by Katie Adams
When I was an undergraduate student, the weekends usually meant parties. And Sunday brunches often consisted of friends dishing on any hookups that occurred at those parties. Looking back on...
Sex Ed
August 21, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader sent the following question:How many people are into dirty talk? What turns people on about it?There’s a lot of research out there on sexual communication, but surprisingly little...
Sex Ed, Sex Q&A
August 19, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-seven years ago this week (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on some of the major findings from Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. This...
Sex Ed
August 17, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Our sexual behavior patterns change with the seasons. Historically, there has been a reliable peak in sexual activity during the summer months. But is our usual summer peak going to...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
August 10, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
As someone who studies the science of sexual fantasies, something I’ve been curious about is whether this pandemic has affected our fantasies in any way. This situation has touched a...
Sex Ed
August 7, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Sadism and masochism involve deriving pleasure from the experience of giving and receiving pain, respectively. This can take a number of forms, from spanking to whipping to flogging and beyond...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 27, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) is one of the most popular sexual fantasies and a significant number of people report having engaged in BDSM acts before.So why is it such...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 24, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Survey studies have found that many men report having sent unsolicited photos of their penises (“dick pics”) to other people before—but how many people say they’ve ever received such a...
Gender, Sex Ed
July 20, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Some of my colleagues and I at The Kinsey Institute started a study in mid-March to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, and social distancing on people’s intimate...
Sex Ed
July 17, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
When you fantasize about sex, do you appear in your own fantasies? If so, do you appear as you do in real life, or do you change yourself in some...
Fantasies, Sex Ed
July 8, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual inactivity is on the rise among young adults. In the last two decades, the number of people—especially men—reporting that they haven’t had sex in the past year has risen...
Sex Ed
July 3, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Female genital cosmetic surgery is on the rise. While these procedures are still relatively uncommon compared to breast augmentation and other cosmetic procedures, they are increasing at a fast rate....
Sex Ed
July 2, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
According to Gallup's 2020 Moral Issues Survey, Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to become more liberal overall. In fact, for many of the issues on this survey, Gallup recorded...
Sex Ed
June 22, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Tomorrow (June 23) marks the birthday of Dr. Alfred Kinsey, one of the most famous figures in the world of sex research. Kinsey was born in 1894 and died in...
Sex Ed
June 17, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A few years back, I launched the Sex Studies page on Sex and Psychology with the goal of helping to connect sex researchers with potential participants, and it has been...
Sex Ed
June 15, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
In recent years, I have noticed an increasing trend in both public and academic discourse on sex to conflate unwanted sexual activity with nonconsensual sexual activity. For example, in many...
Sex Ed
June 3, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death earlier this year, an ESPN news anchor shared a heartfelt story about Bryant’s love of being a father. The emotional tribute instantly went...
Sex Ed
May 29, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader asked the following question:“Do more attractive people have more sexual partners?”According to the research I’ve seen, there does seem to be a link between physical attractiveness and number...
Sex Ed
May 25, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A common refrain in many anti-prostitution arguments is that sex work is inherently exploitative and that it perpetuates gender inequality. Built into these arguments is an assumption that men who...
Sex Ed
May 18, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
May is Masturbation Month, so let’s talk about self-pleasure! In this post, we’ll explore twelve things scientists have learned from the study of masturbation, including who does it, why, how,...
Sex Ed
May 18, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Two months ago, I published a blog post titled “Can the Coronavirus be Transmitted Through Sex?” At the time, I wrote that “there haven’t been any scientific studies as of...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
May 11, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Much has been said and written about how pornography use has changed during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, including on this blog (see here). However, almost all of the information we...
Sex Ed
April 22, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
What’s going on in the world of sex research today? What are some of the biggest controversies and challenges? I recently sat down with a few of my colleagues to...
Sex Ed, Videos
April 3, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
There are a lot of conflicting media reports out right now about how the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is affecting people’s sex drives. Some are saying that all of the stress...
Media & Culture, Sex Ed
March 30, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Most research on people who patronize sex workers has focused on men. In some ways, this isn’t surprising because men are much more likely to report having paid for sex...
Sex Ed
March 11, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
In my last post, I wrote about people who fantasize about having sex ‘forced’ on them. Today, we’re going to talk about the flip side of these fantasies: people who...
Sex Ed
March 9, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Have you ever fantasized about being ‘forced’ to have sex? If so, you’re not alone. Fantasies about being taken against one’s will (sometimes known as ‘forced sex fantasies,’ ‘rape fantasies,’...
Sex Ed
March 6, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A few years ago, I launched the Sex Studies page on Sex and Psychology, with the goal of helping to connect sex researchers with prospective participants. I’m pleased to say...
Sex Ed
March 2, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
When you hear the word orgasm, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?Odds are, you probably thought about pleasure because most of us tend to equate orgasms with positive...
Sex Ed
February 17, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
We’ve long known that scarcity plays an important role in sexual attraction. For example, in a classic study, research assistants approached people at a bar at different points during the...
Sex Ed
February 5, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
A lot of people seem to be under the impression that, if you watch enough porn, your brain will build up a tolerance to it. The result is that you...
Sex Ed
February 3, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Almost everyone has sexual fantasies, and most of us have them often. We fantasize about a wide range of activities, from group sex to BDSM to doing something that is...
Sex Ed
January 21, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
How does marijuana affect people’s sex lives? According to scientific research, it seems to be an aphrodisiac for a lot of people. For example, a 2017 study published in the Journal of Sexual...
Sex Ed
January 10, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
What’s going on in the world of sex and relationship research right now? Here’s a brief recap of the latest and greatest happenings. In this edition, we’ll review a new...
Sex Ed
January 3, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Rough sex is one of the most popular sexual fantasies. While it’s a common fantasy theme across genders, it is especially common among women. As I discuss in my book...
Gender, Sex Ed
January 1, 2020 by Justin Lehmiller
Each time a new year begins, a lot of people make resolutions for self-improvement. Some of us resolve to lose weight or to get in better shape, others vow to...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
December 30, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
2019 has been memorable for a lot of reasons—including what science taught us about sex. Here’s a quick recap of some of the most interesting things we learned about sex...
Sex Ed
December 23, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Pornhub just released their 2019 year-in-review of users’ viewing habits and, as usual, the results were fascinating. They reported an average of 115 million site visitors per day this year,...
Sex Ed
December 16, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
A lot of people are hard at work right now trying to find the perfect holiday gift for a significant other. Allow me to make your job a little easier...
Sex Ed
December 13, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Americans have become increasingly fond of calling pornography a “public health crisis.” Those who claim this frequently cite adolescents’ “rampant access to pornography” as a central concern. Parents are encouraged...
Sex Ed
December 11, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
We all like to imagine that our decision making is clear and logical and that we’re weighing the pros and cons before we act. The truth, however, is that we’re...
Gender, Sex Ed
November 18, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people report dreaming about sex from time to time. For example, one study found that 93% of men and 86% of women said they’d had sex dreams before. But...
Gender, Sex Ed
November 15, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Have you ever fantasized about what it would be like to be in a sexually open relationship? If so, you’re not the only one. It turns out that being involved...
Gender, Sex Ed
November 13, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on the blog was about why so many men send unsolicited dick pics to women. At the time, there wasn’t really...
Sex Ed
November 6, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
If you're reading this post, odds are that you love learning about the latest sex research. But have you ever wanted to go beyond reading about it and take part...
Sex Ed
November 1, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Why do people engage in risky sexual behaviors? This is, of course, a complex question and there are obviously many contributing factors. For example, some people take sexual risks because...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
October 30, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
It is a widely known fact that people sometimes pretend to orgasm during sex. But just how many have ever done it? Why do they do it? And how do...
Gender, Sex Ed
October 25, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
With Halloween just around the corner, people will soon start dressing up as all kinds of mythical creatures, from werewolves to vampires to mermaids and beyond. Most people who dress...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
October 21, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Alcohol, marijuana, and ecstasy/MDMA/Molly are among the most popular substances people use to enhance their sexual experiences. But when it comes to their effects, how similar or different are these...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
October 16, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
The refractory period is usually defined as a phase following orgasm during which additional orgasms are impossible. Sexual arousal is often said to be very difficult during this time as...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
October 14, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Casual sex is common, and studies suggest that most people will have it at one point or another. However, despite its prevalence, casual sex is widely misunderstood. Here are nine...
Gender, Sex Ed
October 2, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
A few weeks ago, I posted an article about the beautiful—but sexually deceitful—orchid. Some orchids have evolved to mimic the appearance and scent of female bees in order to lure...
Sex Ed
September 30, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
In Jack Morin’s classic book The Erotic Mind, he describes the “erotic equation” as follows: Attraction + Obstacles = ExcitementWhat this equation means is basically that if we’re attracted to...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
September 27, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
How does pornography affect the way that teens think about and approach sex? Is there a link between pornography and sexual violence, as many in the media have claimed? Also...
Sex Ed, Videos
September 27, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Adolescents today have greater access to a wider range of pornography than any previous generation. So how is it affecting them? This question is the crux of a new episode...
Interviews, Sex Ed
September 23, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
I am pleased to announce the seventh annual SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference! It will be held next February prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology....
Sex Ed
September 9, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
A large number of people have sexual fantasies that are impossible to act out because they feature elements of science fiction. As some evidence of this, I surveyed more than...
Sex Ed
September 2, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Narcissism is a frequently maligned personality trait that involves being self-centered, entitled, and holding grandiose views of oneself. Sex researchers have long been interested in how narcissism plays out in...
Dating & Relationships, Gender, Sex Ed
August 28, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
If you're reading this, odds are that you love learning about the latest sex research. But have you ever wanted to go beyond just reading about it and perhaps take...
Sex Ed
August 19, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-six years ago this week (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on some of the major findings from Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. As...
Sex Ed
August 16, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
What does your use of emojis say about your sex and dating life? According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, a lot, actually. In fact, frequent...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
August 7, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
How have Americans’ sexual behaviors changed over the past quarter of a century? A recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior offers some insight. In this study, researchers...
Sex Ed
August 2, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
The orgasm gap refers to the well-documented research finding that heterosexual men tend to have more consistent experiences with orgasm than heterosexual women. Specifically, men are not only more likely...
Sex Ed, Videos
July 29, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
BDSM has long been deemed a paraphilia—meaning an unusual sexual interest—by psychologists and psychiatrists. The classification of BDSM as a paraphilia implies that it’s likely to be a pretty rare...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 22, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
I surveyed 4,175 Americans about their sexual fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want. Since this book came out, one of the more common questions I’ve been asked...
Sex Ed
July 15, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Who’s your celebrity crush? I surveyed more than 4,000 American adults about their sexual fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want and, among other things, I asked them...
Gender, Sex Ed
July 3, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
As a sex researcher, I’ve read a lot of studies on the subject of pornography. One thing that’s been pretty consistent across most of them is that what counts as...
Sex Ed
July 1, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
According to the results of Gallup's 2019 Moral Issues Survey, Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to become more liberal overall. In fact, for many of the issues Americans were...
Sex Ed
June 26, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Much has been said and written in the popular media about the length of time it typically takes men and women to reach orgasm; however, most of this information is...
Gender, Sex Ed
June 24, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex is seasonal. Our patterns of sexual activity ebb and flow throughout the year, and right now we’re entering peak territory because it’s officially summer. Research from a variety of...
Sex Ed
June 17, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual sadists are people who derive arousal from inflicting pain on others. This could be physical pain, such as hitting someone else, or it could be psychological pain, such as...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed, Sex Q&A
June 12, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
How does sexual satisfaction change over time in a relationship? The good news is that scientists have found that it increases. The bad news is that this increase only occurs...
Sex Ed
June 5, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
There are lots of articles out there describing the most-viewed porn categories on Pornhub and other popular adult sites—however, that’s not what this article is. While big data insights from...
Gender, Sex Ed
May 13, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
What does it say about you if you’re into kinky or BDSM sex? Is it a serious leisure activity, or is it an innate aspect of your sexuality? Could the...
Kink & BDSM, LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
May 3, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
According to countless popular media articles, there is a massive disparity between heterosexual men and women when it comes to giving oral sex. Some of these articles suggest that, in...
Gender, Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
May 1, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
How does marijuana affect women’s sexual functioning? A recent study published in the journal Sexual Medicine sought to find out. Researchers anonymously surveyed hundreds of women visiting an obstetrics and...
Sex Ed
April 29, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
In the United States, the average age of first sexual intercourse is 17 for men, according to data from the CDC. The number is roughly the same for women, and...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
April 24, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex and aging is a topic that has been underexplored in sexuality research, given that the bulk of sex studies to date have focused on college students. However, we’ve learned...
Gender, Sex Ed
April 5, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
As a sex educator and researcher, one of the more common questions I get asked is when and how to talk to your kids about sex. Case in point: a...
Sex Ed
March 27, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
The science of orgasm is a fascinating subject. In this post, we’ll take a look at seven of the most interesting things scientists have discovered about orgasms. What to learn...
Sex Ed
March 25, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
In the book A Billion Wicked Thoughts, neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam analyzed the contents of over a billion searches on some of the most popular porn sites. They...
Sex Ed
March 22, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
People have a lot of wrong ideas about how relationships work, and these romantic myths and misconceptions can interfere with our ability to find happiness.
Sex Ed, Videos
March 20, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
In the last few years, Google Trends has become a favored research tools of sex scientists. Because not everyone is willing to participate in sex studies for various reasons, Google...
Sex Ed
March 13, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Which sexual fantasies have you had? I surveyed 4,175 Americans about the content of their sex fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want and found seven major themes...
Gender, Sex Ed
March 8, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
When you start seeing someone new, when’s the right time to begin having sex with that person? According to a non-scientific survey of OK Cupid users, people are all over...
Sex Ed
February 20, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Whenever a major sporting competition is about to occur, it’s common to see news articles about athletes who say they will be abstaining from sex until the event is over....
Sex Ed
February 15, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
There are a LOT of things that people get wrong when it comes to sex and relationships. As someone who studies these topics for a living, I’ve noticed that some...
Sex Ed, Videos
February 1, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Paraphilia is the term psychiatrists and psychologists use to refer to any type of unusual or “non-normative” sexual interest. The number of sexual fantasies that have been deemed paraphilic has...
Sex Ed
January 28, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
How long do you want to spend on sex? And how long do you actually spend on sex when you have it? Research suggests that there’s often a discrepancy in...
Sex Ed
January 25, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
There's a lot we can potentially gain from talking to our partners about our sexual fantasies. Among other things, this has the potential to increase our sexual and relationship satisfaction...
Sex Ed, Videos
January 23, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Purchasing sex used to be a very common behavior among American men. For example, Alfred Kinsey’s famous studies of human sexual behavior from the 1940s and 50s found that 69%...
Gender, Sex Ed
January 21, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
It seems as though every time a video game becomes a major hit, porn inspired by that game becomes a big thing. For example, when the PokémonGo craze hit in...
Sex Ed
January 16, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
A recent study suggests that Americans are having less sex today than they were a quarter-century ago. These findings have received a lot of attention—I covered them on the blog...
Sex Ed
January 14, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
In 2017, we added a new word to our sexual vocabulary: stealthing. A paper published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law defined it as “nonconsensual condom removal during...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
January 7, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
The human body produces a number of different fluids—and those fluids represent a sexual turn-on for some people. From semen and sweat to blood and breast milk, almost any body...
Gender, Sex Ed
January 2, 2019 by Justin Lehmiller
Pornhub recently released their 2018 year-in-review of users’ viewing habits and the results were fascinating. Among other things, they reported an average of 92 million site visitors per day in...
Sex Ed
December 31, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Every time a new year comes around, people start making resolutions for self-improvement. For example, some of us resolve to lose weight or to get in shape, others vow to...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
December 30, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
There are a lot of stereotypes about female sex workers, and one is that no woman would ever choose this profession voluntarily. Some people see sex work as inherently victimizing,...
Sex Ed
December 26, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
2018 has been memorable for a lot of reasons—including what science taught us about sex. Here’s a quick recap of some of the most interesting things we learned about sex...
Sex Ed
December 17, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine shared an article with me that offered a historical review of the “nude psychotherapy” movement in psychology. Wait—what? As I began to...
Sex Ed
December 14, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
In studying the sex fantasies of more than 4,000 Americans for my book Tell Me What You Want, I discovered that there’s one person who’s more likely to appear in...
Gender, Sex Ed
December 12, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Over the last decade, scientists have published a series of studies claiming that the color red is a sexual signal and that wearing it makes you more attractive to the...
Sex Ed
December 5, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
There's a scene in the movie Mean Girls in which high school health teacher Coach Carr gives his students a lesson in sex education. It pretty much consists of him...
Sex Ed
November 28, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I’ve seen a lot of articles lately about sex robots and how they’re supposedly going to revolutionize our sex lives. A lot of these articles make the assumption that there’s...
Sex Ed
November 23, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I surveyed more than 4,000 Americans about their sexual fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want and I found that group sex was one of the most common...
Gender, LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
November 21, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
When I was training to become a social psychologist, I learned that many emotions and facial expressions seem to be universal across cultures. Recently, however, researchers have begun to debate...
Sex Ed
November 14, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Many psychologists believe that our personalities consist of five underlying traits: openness to experience (your willingness to try new things), conscientiousness (how detail oriented and organized you are), extraversion (how...
Sex Ed
November 7, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
A few years ago, I came across some research reporting that the way a child is born appears to have consequences for their health. How so? Scientists believe that the...
Sex Ed
October 29, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
We tend to think of casual sex as, well, a pretty casual affair, meaning it’s just about the sex and nothing else. This view of casual sex is pervasive, even...
Sex Ed
October 26, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Each October, the media runs story after story warning parents about the dangers that sex offenders pose to children on Halloween. All of the panic stoked by these claims has...
Sex Ed
October 19, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
The state of sex education is poor for American adolescents—but you probably already knew that. However, what you may not have realized is that the state of sex education for...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
October 15, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists have found that sex seems to be good for us in many ways. For example, sexual activity has stress-relieving properties: when couples in a good quality relationship have sex...
Sex Ed
October 10, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I surveyed 4,175 Americans from all 50 states about their sexual fantasies for my book Tell Me What You Want. Participants were asked to describe their favorite sexual fantasy of...
Sex Ed
October 1, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Parents have the potential to play an important role in their children’s sex education. Indeed, many of you reading this probably received a version of the “birds and bees” talk...
Sex Ed
September 24, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
There’s a big assumption built into the way most people talk about sexual consent, which is that sex is exclusively a two-person activity. While it’s true that sex most often...
Sex Ed
September 19, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
We’ve long known that there’s a link between sex and headaches. In fact, we can trace this all the way back to Hippocrates, who is thought to be the first...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
September 14, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Alcohol and marijuana are among the most popular substances people use to enhance their sexual experiences. But when it comes to their effects, how similar or different are these drugs?...
Sex Ed
September 12, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I am pleased to announce the sixth annual SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference! It will be held next February prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology....
Sex Ed
September 10, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I have been studying the science of sex for the last ten years. During that time, I’ve learned a lot about what turns people on, from the vanilla to the...
Sex Ed
August 31, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Some men’s penises seem to grow more than others when they change from a flaccid to erect state. In colloquial terms, men who experience a larger increase in length are...
Sex Ed
August 27, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
How do you feel after sex? If you’re like most people, you’re probably pretty happy. After all, “it feels good” and “it’s fun” are among the most common reasons men...
Sex Ed
August 18, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-five years ago today (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on some of the major findings from Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. As many...
Sex Ed
August 17, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Our sexual fantasies appear to reflect, at least in part, our personality traits and characteristics. In studying the sex fantasies of more than 4,000 Americans for my book Tell Me...
Sex Ed
August 8, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the most reliable findings across studies of human sexual behavior is that heterosexual men report substantially more lifetime sexual partners on average compared to heterosexual women. In theory,...
Gender, Sex Ed, Videos
July 27, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Studies suggests that most married adults have sex somewhere between a few times per month and a few times per week (side note: sexual frequency in relationships is similar for...
Sex Ed, Videos
July 20, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Your sex life is, to some extent, a function of your personality. Sex scientists have accumulated a large body of research revealing linkages between what are known as the "Big...
Sex Ed
July 18, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
According to the results of Gallup's 2018 Moral Issues Survey, Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to become more liberal. For the majority of issues Americans were surveyed about, Gallup...
Sex Ed
July 11, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Why do we have sexual fantasies? For many of you, the first thought that probably comes to mind is to enhance sexual arousal or to experience pleasure. However, that’s just...
Sex Ed
July 11, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
What’s the source of your favorite sex fantasy? Did it emerge from a previous sexual experience? Is it from something you saw in porn or in the popular media? Or...
Sex Ed
July 9, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
When we hear or read about other people’s sexual fantasies, we have a tendency to focus our attention on the specific act they describe, such as a threesome or bondage,...
Sex Ed
July 6, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
My new book, Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life, will land in bookstores next week (July...
Sex Ed
July 2, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Anal activities have become increasingly popular in porn—and in people’s sex lives, too. For example, changes in Pornhub search trends reveal that queries for anal sex have increased by more...
Sex Ed
June 29, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex scientists have found that people’s sexual satisfaction seems to depend on a wide range of factors, from how often they’re having sex to the types of sexual activities they’re...
Sex Ed
June 25, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Many athletes abstain from sex before major sporting competitions because they (and sometimes their coaches) are worried that getting it on might have a negative impact on their performance. For...
Sex Ed
June 20, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Research on both humans and animals increasingly suggests that being sexually active just might benefit the brain. Here's an overview of the evidence that has accumulated so far:A 2010 study...
Sex Ed
June 18, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Let’s say you have a sexual fantasy about something—or someone—you’re not “supposed” to do, perhaps because it conflicts with the teachings of your religion. When a thought about this pops...
Sex Ed
June 11, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
It’s hardly a new revelation that our sense of smell plays an important role in our sexual and romantic lives. I mean, after all, the multi-billion dollar perfume, cologne, and...
Sex Ed
May 23, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists who study sexual arousal have found that when they show participants a pornographic video, many people (especially women) show signs of genital arousal while simultaneously reporting that they do...
Sex Ed, Videos
May 21, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
In the real world, forcing someone to have sex is something that is widely regarded as a repugnant act. By contrast, in our sexual fantasies, the prospect of being forced...
Sex Ed
May 17, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Today in my study abroad course on sex and culture in the Netherlands, we're focusing on sex work, especially the link between prostitution and mental health. Many studies have been...
Sex Ed
April 20, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
People who are into bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism (or BDSM for short) experience a lot of stigma. For one thing, they are often seen as psychologically disturbed,...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
April 13, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
How many different reasons are there to have sex? At least 237, according to one study. However, that study was primarily based on young college students, which begs the question...
Gender, Sex Ed
April 6, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people have sex at least once in their lives. For example, in a longitudinal study of over 20,000 American adolescents who were surveyed repeatedly over a 15-year period, just...
Sex Ed
April 4, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
People fantasize about having sex in a wide range of settings, but cars are one of the most popular. As some evidence of this, I surveyed more than four thousand...
Sex Ed
April 2, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
It’s easy to find articles in the popular media talking about how porn ruins relationships. Many scientific studies have made this claim, too. However, there’s a problematic assumption embedded in...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
March 30, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Why do people who start a family decide it’s time to stop having children? A new set of studies published in the journal Marriage and Family Review identifies 4 primary...
Sex Ed
March 28, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Few aspects of genital anatomy have sparked as much scientific debate as the so-called G-spot (also known as the Grafenberg spot). Some researchers have argued that it is a distinct...
Sex Ed
March 19, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Having children obviously takes a lot of work—and a lot of money. It really is an enormous sacrifice in so many ways. So why do so many of us do...
Sex Ed
March 16, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
When comparing the number of women who say they’ve been sexually assaulted to the number of men who admit to perpetrating sexual assault, the numbers are highly discrepant. In fact,...
Sex Ed
March 12, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Some people are turned on by thought of watching their partner have sex with someone else. This fantasy goes by many names, but it is often referred to as cuckolding...
Sex Ed
March 9, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
What keeps passion alive in a long-term relationship? According to a recent study of nearly 40,000 adults (all of whom were heterosexual and currently in romantic relationships), there were five...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
March 7, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently returned from the Sexuality Pre-Conference, held just prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Atlanta, Georgia. I had the chance to...
Sex Ed
March 5, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found that women are more likely to have regrets about their previous experiences with casual sex than men. While men can certainly have regrets about casual sex,...
Gender, Sex Ed
February 26, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
How many single adults in the United States have had a friends with benefits relationship? How many are open to the idea of having a threesome? And what do they...
Sex Ed
February 19, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
The Trump administration recently released its proposed budget for 2019 and, just like last year, it seeks to ensure that sex education in the United States remains focused on abstinence....
Sex Ed
February 12, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people would probably assume that Valentine’s Day is linked to an increase in pregnancies. I mean, given the nature of this holiday and the emphasis on celebrating sex and...
Sex Ed
February 9, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
How many people have had oral sex? Do men and women have similar feelings about this activity? Does oral sex "count" as sex? In this post, we'll take a look...
Sex Ed
February 5, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
There’s a widespread belief that, if you watch enough porn, your brain will build up a tolerance to it, meaning that you will require more and more extreme stuff in...
Sex Ed
January 31, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
In popular culture, a sapiosexual or sapiophile is someone who thinks that high intelligence is sexually attractive. It’s not just that these individuals think it would be desirable to have...
Sex Ed
January 29, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
There's been a lot of talk about the issue of sexual consent in response to the #MeToo movement. Much of this talk has focused on getting men to understand that...
Sex Ed
January 24, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
What do heterosexual women find attractive about the male body? A new study suggests that signs of muscularity and upper body strength are particularly important, while height and weight seem...
Sex Ed
January 22, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found that pornography use is associated with lower levels of sexual satisfaction (see here and here and here for a few examples). On the basis of this...
Sex Ed
January 15, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Pornhub recently released their annual year-in-review of users’ viewing habits and, as usual, the results were fascinating. Among other things, they reported an average of 81 million site visitors per...
Sex Ed
January 10, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Two people can have sex fantasies about the same activity, but the way that specific activity plays out isn’t necessarily going to be the same from one person to the...
Sex Ed
January 5, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
The busiest time of year for online dating is the nearly two-month stretch that runs from the day after Christmas through Valentine’s Day. It reaches its peak on the Sunday...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
January 4, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
The busiest time of year for online dating is the nearly two-month stretch that runs from the day after Christmas through Valentine’s Day. It reaches its peak on the Sunday...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
January 1, 2018 by Justin Lehmiller
Every time a new year comes around, a lot of us start making resolutions for self-improvement. For example, some people resolve to lose weight or get in shape, others vow...
Potpourri, Sex Ed
December 20, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Do people engaged in casual, “no strings attached” sexual relationships engage in similar sexual activities compared to people in committed romantic relationships? There is some research to suggest that the...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
December 13, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently blogged about a study that examined women’s experiences with orgasm during vaginal intercourse. The results revealed that question wording is crucial when it comes to understanding how often...
Sex Ed
December 11, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex has the potential to benefit us in numerous ways. Among other things, research suggests that it may be good for our physical health (it is a form of exercise...
Sex Ed
December 6, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
You might think that it would be easy to define a term like sex—but it’s not. It turns out that different people have very different definitions, and they make all...
Sex Ed
December 4, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have looked at women’s experiences with orgasm during penile-vaginal intercourse. However, these studies have produced variable results, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about how often women...
Sex Ed
November 17, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Many sexuality researchers and educators have claimed that kissing is a universal or near universal sexual and romantic behavior. For example, several sexuality textbooks explicitly say that kissing isn't just...
Sex Ed
November 13, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In the modern world, we have a tendency to blame almost all of our problems on technology--and this is especially true when it comes to sexual problems. For example, I’ve...
Sex Ed
November 8, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
This year, Pornhub celebrated its tenth birthday. To commemorate the occasion, they released some fascinating data on trends in users’ viewing habits. Among other things, over 10 million videos have...
Sex Ed
November 6, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
What effect does marijuana have on sexual function? Surprisingly little research has addressed this question, and the few studies that exist have produced conflicting results. For example, while survey research...
Sex Ed
October 27, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
The number of babies born each day naturally fluctuates throughout the year. However, researchers have found that certain days are linked to consistent increases or decreases in the birth rate....
Sex Ed
October 27, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Each October, the media runs story after story warning parents about the dangers that sex offenders pose to children on Halloween. All of the panic stoked by these claims has...
Sex Ed
October 27, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people have had dreams about sex before. However, there’s a lot of variability in the kinds of sex dreams that people have. So where does all of that variation...
Sex Ed
October 11, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
How often do women orgasm during penile-vaginal intercourse? And just how important is clitoral stimulation when it comes to a woman's likelihood of experiencing orgasm during sex? A new paper...
Sex Ed
September 27, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Compared to generations past, millennials are having less sex. And the post-millennials—or iGen, as social psychologist Jean Twenge has dubbed them—are doing it even less. Much has been said and...
Sex Ed
September 25, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Does sexual satisfaction change over the course of a long-term romantic relationship and, is so, how? On the one hand, you might think that satisfaction increases as partners learn how...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
September 20, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
What kinds of genital touch do women find to be most pleasurable? A lot of research has explored this question; however, most of it has suffered from major limitations. For...
Sex Ed
September 15, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Communicating early and often about sex is one of the keys to a successful long-term romantic relationship. Indeed, research has consistently found that the more sexual communication couples engage in,...
Sex Ed
September 13, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
I am pleased to announce the fifth annual SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference! It will be held next March, just prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social...
Sex Ed
September 6, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
A new study published in the Journal of Sex Research reports that when married people start using porn, their odds of getting divorced double. In other words, the results would...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
August 30, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
To date, most national sex surveys in America have focused on people's attitudes toward and experiences with a relatively narrow range of sexual behaviors, namely: vaginal intercourse, oral sex, anal...
Sex Ed
August 18, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-four years ago this Sunday (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on some of the major findings from Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. As...
Sex Ed
August 16, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
The immense popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey has prompted a lot of curiosity about BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism). Among other things, people have begun to...
Sex Ed
August 14, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Like most sex researchers, I tend to study people who have sex--and, over the years, we've developed a large scientific literature about them. But what about the people who, for...
Sex Ed
August 14, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex stands to benefit us in many ways. For example, research has found that being sexually active appears to be good for our physical health—not only does having sex burn...
Sex Ed
August 7, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the most popular stereotypes of male sexuality is that guys want sex ALL the time. They're always in the mood because they're constantly thinking about it. After all,...
Sex Ed
August 4, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
There are a lot of different things that can motivate people to have sex. In fact, one study identified 237 distinct reasons for getting it on! But do our reasons...
Sex Ed
July 31, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
When we engage in sexual activity, it's usually with just one other person. Sometimes, however, people engage in “social” sexual experiences in which multiple people are involved in some way....
Sex Ed
July 31, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
If I asked you to imagine someone faking an orgasm, odds are that you'd probably picture a woman. It has long been assumed that fake orgasms are unique to women,...
Sex Ed
July 24, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Women don’t need to have sex in order to reach orgasm. In fact, they don’t necessarily even need any genital stimulation at all. Here are five ways women can experience...
Sex Ed
July 21, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader asked the following question:"If you've been circumcised, is there any way to get your foreskin back?"Some circumcised men lament the removal of their foreskin, wishing to be "uncircumcised."...
Sex Ed
July 19, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
When you study sex for a living, people have a tendency to think that you really love sex—and that you must be having it all the time, too! In other...
Sex Ed
July 14, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Google Trends has quickly become one of the favorite research tools of sex scientists. Why? In part, because not everyone is willing to participate in sex studies and, among those...
Sex Ed
July 10, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In the animal kingdom, there are some species that only mate seasonally. They do it just a few times per year, coinciding with their fertile periods. Humans, by contrast, are...
Sex Ed
July 7, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Paraphilia is a very general term used by psychologists to refer to any kind of unusual sexual interest. The number of desires that have been deemed paraphilic has grown substantially...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
July 3, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Porn has been criticized for a lot of reasons, but one of the most common complaints lodged against it is that it isn’t realistic, especially in the way it depicts...
Sex Ed
June 12, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists who study sexual desire have long been wary of over-relying on self-report data because people don’t always tell the truth on surveys. Some people answer questions about what turns...
Sex Ed
June 5, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
According to the results of Gallup's 2017 Moral Issues Survey, Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to become more liberal. In fact, for a majority of the issues Americans were...
Sex Ed
May 26, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
As you might imagine, in my work as a sex educator, questions about penises--and especially about penis size--come up all the time. As such, I thought it might be helpful...
Sex Ed
May 10, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
As a sex educator, one of the topics I get asked about most often is anal sex. Given how curious people seem to be about this activity, I thought it...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
April 28, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
When our interest in sex starts to wane, exposure to a new or novel partner has a way of bringing it back. This phenomenon--formally dubbed the Coolidge Effect--got its name...
Sex Ed
April 28, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In a long-term relationship, what does it mean when one or both partners masturbate on their own? A lot of people would be tempted to conclude that it's a sign...
Sex Ed
April 17, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Vibrators are one of the most popular sex toys in the world. They are ubiquitous in sex shops, not to mention on the internet—and you can get them in virtually...
Sex Ed
April 12, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently blogged about the results of a new study reporting that Americans today are having less sex than they were a quarter century ago. Specifically, this research suggests that...
Sex Ed
April 10, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior offers a fascinating analysis of the way American adults' sex lives changed between the years 1989 and 2014. Specifically, it...
Sex Ed
April 7, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Although the breasts and nipples have long been considered to be among the human body's biggest erogenous zones, surprisingly little research attention has been given to the role that these...
Sex Ed
March 29, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Afterglow refers to “the look of contentment on a person’s face after great sex,” at least according to the Urban Dictionary. In other words, the basic idea here is that...
Sex Ed
March 27, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In the United States today, most male infants are circumcised. Many in the medical community strongly support this practice, pointing to research finding a link between circumcision and better health...
Sex Ed
March 20, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Both men and women report a wide range of reasons for having sex. In fact, one previous study identified as many as 237 distinct sexual motivations! But how do our...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
March 16, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
What actually counts as “having sex?” Well, it depends who you ask. Different people have different definitions. A recent study published in the Journal of Sex Research highlights just how...
Sex Ed
March 6, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
My university, like many schools around the country, is on spring break this week. A lot of students are using this opportunity to not just take a breather from their...
Sex Ed
March 1, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships, the partners involved agree that having more than one sexual and/or romantic relationship at the same time is acceptable. There are a great many myths...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
February 20, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
As Co-Chair of this year’s meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, it is my great pleasure to invite you to join us in the Caribbean this...
Sex Ed
February 17, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Last week, I was talking in class about differences in how men and women use Tinder and other online dating apps. In the midst of this class discussion, a student...
Sex Ed
January 30, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Earlier this month, the fourth annual Sexuality Pre-Conference was held just prior to the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). Together with a few of my...
Sex Ed
January 18, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
The number of men seeking to enhance the size of their penises is on the rise, with guys lining up to buy everything from pills to pumps to stretching devices...
Sex Ed
January 13, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
In what ways have the sexual attitudes and behaviors of American adults changed in the last thirty or so years? For a look at the answer, check out the infographic...
Sex Ed
January 11, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
It’s a simple biological fact that, as we age, the odds of developing one or more sexual problems increases. But what exactly does this mean for the sexual satisfaction of...
Sex Ed
January 9, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Popular media articles on adolescent sexuality usually paint a portrait of the modern American teenager as hypersexual. Among other things, these articles give the impression that teens are having sex...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
January 4, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
A growing body of research suggests that frequent sexual activity has brain benefits. For instance, a 2010 study on male rats discovered a link between sexual activity and neuron growth...
Sex Ed
January 2, 2017 by Justin Lehmiller
Every time a new year rolls around, people start making resolutions for self-improvement--you know, like losing weight, getting your spending under control, or finally giving up smoking. As you ponder...
Sex Ed
December 23, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Generally speaking, people have more sex in the summer than they do in the winter [1]—however, it turns out that December is the exception to the winter sex slump. Evidence...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
December 16, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
The amount of sexual experience you have (or don’t have) could potentially affect how willing other people are to date or have sex with you, according to a new study...
Gender, Sex Ed
December 14, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
A few months ago, I blogged about a new study showing that Americans’ interest in consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is on the rise. In this study, social psychologist Amy Moors analyzed...
Sex Ed
November 30, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
A study from the 1980s found that heterosexual men who viewed images of Playboy and Penthouse centerfolds reported less love for their romantic partners than men who saw images of...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
November 28, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
A few weeks ago, I attended the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS). I’ve been going to this conference for a few years in...
Sex Ed
November 24, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving today, one of the many things you might consider giving thanks for is sex. Why? Here are six good reasons, all supported by science.1....
Sex Ed
November 23, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
As someone who's in the business of sex education, I get asked sex questions all of the time. These questions cover every topic you can possibly imagine, with one of...
Sex Ed
October 26, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
How do men feel about the use of condoms in pornography? A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior offers some insight. Gay, straight, and bisexual men were...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
October 26, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
It has become an October tradition for the media to run story after story warning parents that sex offenders are at an increased risk of committing sex crimes against children...
Sex Ed
October 19, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
What does it mean to be "abstinent?" It depends who you ask. Sex researchers have found that there is incredible diversity among college students in terms of how they personally...
Sex Ed
October 17, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
The results of Gallup's 2016 Moral Issues Survey reveal that Americans’ views on sexual morality have shifted in several important ways in the last fifteen years. Most notable are changes...
Sex Ed
October 12, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
A heterosexual man’s interest in using condoms depends upon a lot of things, including his overall attitudes toward condoms, his perceived ability to use them effectively, and whether or not...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
October 10, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
When Alfred Kinsey published his pioneering research on Americans' sexual behaviors back in the 1950s, he found that a sizable number of men and women were having premarital sex and,...
Sex Ed
September 26, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
On average, women in the United States hit menopause at age 51. At this point, they enter what some scientists call a “post-reproductive lifespan” (or PRLS for short), during which...
Sex Ed
September 23, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
In what ways have people's sex lives changed in the last twenty years? Results from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) offers some insight, at least...
Sex Ed
September 19, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Research suggests that most married folks have sex somewhere between a few times per month and a few times per week. Very few do it every single day. But let's...
Sex Ed, Videos
September 14, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Alcohol and marijuana are among the most popular drugs people use for sexual enhancement. But when it comes to their effects, how similar or different are they? A new study...
Sex Ed
September 5, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
The war on porn has reached a fever pitch. Political elites, religious authorities, and a number of other public figures are coming out in ever larger numbers to warn us...
Sex Ed
August 24, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Throughout much of recorded history, female virginity is something that has been highly coveted by heterosexual men who were looking to marry. Women who were known to have lost their...
Sex Ed
August 19, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-three years ago this week (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on some of the major findings from Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. In...
Sex Ed
August 17, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
How many American adults are sending and receiving sext messages? And what's happening with of those sexts we're exchanging anyway? Are people keeping them private, or are they sharing them...
Sex Ed
August 10, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Every time a major international sporting competition takes places, news articles inevitably emerge about the athletes who proclaim that they will be abstaining from sex until the competition is over....
Sex Ed
August 8, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Most of us—men and women alike—have been turned on by the thought of a threesome before. Indeed, study after study has found that this is one of the most common...
Gender, Sex Ed
August 3, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people think of cheating as a risky behavior--risky in the sense that, if discovered, it could potentially lead to hurt feelings, severe conflict, and maybe even breakup. However, infidelity...
Sex Ed
August 1, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Virtually every day, I receive emails from people around the world who have questions about their sex lives. More often than not, these questions can be reduced to the same...
Sex Ed
July 18, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
If you were asked to imagine someone faking an orgasm, chances are that you'd picture a woman. Why? Because fake orgasms are widely assumed to be unique to women, even...
Sex Ed
July 13, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Imagine you're in the midst of flirting with someone. How can you tell whether that person is looking for sex or something more? Research suggests that their eyes just might...
Sex Ed
July 6, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
In the United States and many other parts of the world, kissing is one of the most common sexual and romantic behaviors that exists; however, kissing is far from being...
Sex Ed
July 1, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Many people are curious about the factors that lead some folks to sell sex for a living. Are they doing it because they actually like this kind of work, or...
Sex Ed
June 24, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
When it comes to pubic hair removal practices and preferences, how similar are men and women? A recent study of college students published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine offers...
Sex Ed
June 22, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
There’s a war on porn taking place right now. A growing chorus has emerged claiming that porn is addictive, that it’s causing misogyny and sexual violence, that it’s leading people...
Sex Ed
June 15, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Why do humans have sex? This is a question few scientists have bothered to ask, probably because the answer seems obvious: pleasure and reproduction, of course. However, research suggests that...
Gender, Sex Ed
June 13, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
You may be surprised to learn that Botox—a drug most famous for it’s ability to reduce facial wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing specific muscles—has a number of potential sexual applications. For...
Sex Ed
June 3, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Our sexual behavior patterns change with the seasons--and with the shift from spring to summer just around the corner, research suggests that a change in sexual behavior is likely to...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
June 3, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Do our sexual activity patterns change with the seasons? A new study published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections suggests that they do, and that there’s a reliable peak during...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
May 23, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Before a scientific study is carried out, researchers usually need to receive approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), a body of fellow scientists who evaluate a given study’s potential...
Psychology, Sex Ed
May 16, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
If you had to guess what the average penis length is, what would you say? A medical organization in the United Kingdom, DrEd, recently asked this question of 2,121 people...
Sex Ed
April 25, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Many sex researchers have surveyed heterosexual women about their preferences when it comes to penis size. Curiously, though, most of the studies out there have only focused on one dimension...
Sex Ed
April 24, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
How do guys feel about their own bodies? And does a man's body image have any implications for his sex life? A new study published in the journal Psychology of...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
April 10, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Although prostitution is illegal throughout most of the United States, it’s not uncommon for Americans to buy sex. Most of the purchasers are men, but beyond this, we don’t actually...
Sex Ed
April 8, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Many people are curious about the lives of porn stars. For example, how do they feel about themselves and the work that they do? How much money do they make?...
Sex Ed
March 20, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Men appear to make judgments about women’s sexual intent based upon their physical appearance. For example, research has found that heterosexual men think women are more interested in and willing...
Sex Ed
March 1, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Most people have sex dreams. In fact, studies have found that as many as 93% of men and 86% of women say they’ve had them before [1]. For some, these...
Sex Ed
February 21, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
In President Obama’s proposed budget for 2017, he has eliminated all funding for abstinence-only sex education in the nation’s public schools. Whether this will ultimately come to pass is far...
Sex Ed
January 16, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Here’s a brief recap of the most interesting sex research reports that crossed my desk this week. They include studies on how scientists should be measuring porn use, how consensual...
Sex Ed
January 13, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
In the last few years, scientists have become increasingly interested in studying the potential effects of pornography on viewers. Several studies have been published, but many of them have yielded...
Sex Ed
January 13, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
How many American adults have ever had sex? And what kind(s) of sex have they had? For a look at the answers, check out the infographic below, which summarizes findings...
Sex Ed
January 10, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
What does it actually mean to "have sex?" It depends who you ask. According to a new study published in the Journal of Sex Research, there is some pretty incredible...
Sex Ed
January 7, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
Many women find man-on-man pornography to be sexually arousing. In fact, gay male porn is the second most popular category among female visitors on some of the most popular porn...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
January 7, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
There are a lot of women out there who find man-on-man pornography to be highly arousing. As some evidence of this, one of the biggest porn websites in the world,...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
January 3, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
What goes on inside the brain during sexual arousal and orgasm? And are there any neurological differences between men and women in this regard? In the Big Think video below,...
Sex Ed, Videos
December 16, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Red is one of the most common colors associated with Christmas. From Santa’s suit to Rudolph’s nose to that tacky sweater Grandma gave you last year, red is everywhere during...
Sex Ed
December 13, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
At the start of each new year, many of us make resolutions for self-improvement, such as losing weight, getting one's finances in order, or giving up smoking. As you ponder...
Sex Ed
December 8, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Who's likely to be happier: a couple having sex once per week, or a couple having sex once per day? Intuitively, most people would probably say that the couple getting...
Sex Ed
December 7, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found that when heterosexual men are around attractive women, they become prone to engaging in risky behaviors and spend their money more freely than usual. For instance,...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
November 29, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader submitted the following question:"How deep is a typical vagina? I hear a lot about penis size, but what about vagina size? Does size vary across nations?"Thanks for these...
Sex Ed
November 20, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
A reader submitted the following question:"I know there aren't any bones in the penis, but can you still break it, like if you bend it too much when you're erect?"Thanks...
Sex Ed
November 17, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
The results of Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey reveal that Americans’ views on sexual morality continue to shift in major ways, with particularly notable changes in the perceived acceptability...
Sex Ed
October 4, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
How much do you know about masturbation? Here’s a look at some of the main things scientists have learned over the years from studying self-love, including who does it, why...
Sex Ed
September 4, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
I am pleased to announce that for the third year in a row, there will be a Sexuality Pre-Conference prior to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and...
Sex Ed
September 4, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual fantasy is one of the most "fascinating" topics in the field of human sexuality, which is why I am currently conducting an online survey of sexual fantasies that is...
Sex Ed
September 1, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
We have a rape problem on college and university campuses throughout the United States--there is no denying or debating that. And correcting this problem should merit a lot of our...
Sex Ed
August 3, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Millennials are often referred to as "the hookup generation," with popular media portrayals characterizing them as constantly jumping from one hook-up to the next and rejecting traditional notions of dating...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
August 3, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Humans aren’t the only ones that have to deal with sexually transmitted infections—animals do too. Indeed, chlamydia, syphilis, and several other STIs known all too well among humans have been...
Sex Ed
July 29, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-two years ago today (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on the findings of Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. It was the first book...
Sex Ed
July 16, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
In a new study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science, researchers examined whether the timing, quantity, and quality of men's ejaculate changes when they masturbate to images of a familiar woman...
Sex Ed
July 16, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Male circumcision, or the removal of the penile foreskin, is a procedure performed on most male infants in the United States today. Although the rate of circumcision has declined during...
Sex Ed
July 10, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
The concept of “pornography addiction” is one that has generated a lot of debate in the popular media. Although pretty much everyone seems to agree that there are indeed some...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
July 9, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Kissing is frequently claimed to be a universal or nearly universal romantic behavior. For instance, many sexuality textbooks argue something to the effect that while kissing is common in the...
Sex Ed
June 19, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Using drugs to enhance one’s libido or sexual performance is nothing new, but there are certainly more options today than ever before. This includes prescription drugs (e.g., Viagra for erectile...
Sex Ed
June 19, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Previous research has found that both men and women report a wide range of reasons for having sex. In fact, as many as 237 different reasons have been identified! But...
Sex Ed
June 18, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Millennials are often portrayed in the popular media as an extremely liberal bunch when it comes to sex. The impression given is that, among other things, millennials are totally cool...
Sex Ed
June 3, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
For years, multiple orgasms are something that both scientists and laypersons alike have viewed as being unique to women, not to mention a relatively common part of the female sexual...
Sex Ed
May 27, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Imagine that you started having sex twice as often as you were right now. How do you think you would feel? Although most people would probably guess that their happiness...
Sex Ed
May 21, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
How have American adults' sexual attitudes and behaviors changed in the last two decades? Check out the infographic below for a look at what data from the General Social Survey...
Sex Ed
May 21, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
It goes without saying that most sex researchers study people who have sex. Over the last few decades, we have accumulated a significant body of scientific knowledge about such persons....
Sex Ed
May 15, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual fantasy is one of the most interesting topics there is in the field of human sexuality. Below is a selection of fascinating facts that have emerged from the research...
Fantasies, Sex Ed
April 24, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Little research has attempted to determine the prevalence of sexual interest in prepubescent children among adult men. The studies that do exist have tended to involve small, non-representative samples, and...
Sex Ed
April 10, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Asexuality is a topic that has received an increasing amount of attention from sex researchers in recent years. For instance, studies have been published on the genital arousal patterns of...
Sex Ed
April 10, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Many in the popular media have argued that the increased availability of online pornography is contributing to an earlier onset of erectile difficulties in men. However, scientific research has not...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
April 3, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Anal sex is a sexual activity that is frequently reported by both men and women in America. For instance, a recent CDC survey reported that 44% of men and 36%...
Sex Ed
April 2, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Many women (and their partners) have concerns about sex during pregnancy. For instance, survey research has found that 25-50% of pregnant women and 25% of their male partners have concerns...
Sex Ed
March 26, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
The male orgasm plays a vital role in human reproduction, given that it typically coincides with ejaculation. Indeed, a man who cannot reach orgasm would likely have a very difficult...
Sex Ed
March 20, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Although internet pornography is frequently criticized for depicting gender inequality, surprisingly little research has examined the actual gendered content of online porn. Moreover, what little research does exist in this...
Gender, Sex Ed
March 6, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
A recent paper published in the British Journal of Urology International reports results from the first systematic review of all penis size studies to date in order to provide a...
Sex Ed
March 6, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Evolutionary psychologists have long argued that many of the physical features heterosexual men are drawn to in women reflect traits that signify female health and fertility status. The basic argument...
Sex Ed
February 20, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists have accumulated a substantial body of research revealing that women's mating preferences and behaviors appear to change in various ways when they are ovulating. For instance, during ovulation, women...
Sex Ed
February 19, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
As a sex educator, I get approached with sex questions all of the time. However, I can't help but notice that some topics come up much more frequently than others....
Sex Ed
February 13, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
I have been a sex educator for nearly a decade and, during that time, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about a lot of different things; however, year after...
Sex Ed
January 31, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Asexuality is a sexual orientation that is often characterized as a lack of sexual attraction. Research suggests that up to 1% of the population may be asexual and, further, that...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
January 23, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
How much do you know about the female orgasm? Check out the list below for 11 of the most interesting facts scientists have discovered about women and their orgasms. Which...
Sex Ed
January 2, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
Female ejaculation is one of those topics that consistently generates a lot of debate among scientists and laypersons alike. The debate isn’t so much about whether female ejaculation is real...
Sex Ed
December 18, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Research has found that one of the biggest seasonal peaks in sexual activity occurs around the winter holidays. This makes sense because this time of year offers more opportunities for...
Sex Ed
December 4, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
A number of research studies have emerged in the last few years reporting a link between sexting and sexual behavior among teenagers. However, the inherent weakness of this body of...
Sex Ed
November 21, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Some scientists have argued that kissing is an evolutionarily adaptive behavior. Their hypothesis is that, because kissing provides a mechanism for sharing certain types of bacteria and viruses, it could...
Sex Ed
November 20, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Pubic hair removal has been the subject of a growing amount of research attention; however, surprisingly little work in this area has addressed the question of how men and women...
Gender, Sex Ed
November 13, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
A woman of reproductive age has the potential to become pregnant from vaginal intercourse regardless of whether she experiences an orgasm. This fact has prompted an ongoing debate about the...
Sex Ed
October 23, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Centuries ago, Aristotle proposed the concept of telegony, which suggests that the traits of offspring are not only influenced by their biological parents, but also by the mother’s former mates....
Sex Ed
October 16, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
It is no great secret that political and religious conservatives in the United States have a tendency to disapprove of any kind of sexual activity that is inconsistent with “traditional...
Sex Ed
October 9, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex researchers have long been concerned about the reliability of self-report surveys assessing people’s sexual interests and level of sexual arousal. The fear has always been that people will not...
Sex Ed
September 25, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently launched an online survey of sexual fantasies that is designed to be the largest and most comprehensive investigation of the nature and origin of sexual fantasies ever undertaken....
Sex Ed
September 4, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
How do you know whether your date is looking for a one-night stand or a long-term love? A new study just published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that the...
Sex Ed
August 25, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
In the book A Billion Wicked Thoughts, neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam analyzed the contents of over a billion searches on some of the most popular porn sites. Among...
Sex Ed
August 20, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Sixty-one years ago today (August 20, 1953), the media first reported on the findings of Alfred Kinsey's classic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. It was the first book...
Sex Ed
August 14, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Premenstrual syndrome (or PMS as it is more commonly known) is a catchall term for any unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms a woman might experience just prior to getting her...
Sex Ed
August 7, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Most of us think of sperm as being competitive by nature, with each sperm cell trying to “swim” just a little faster than the others in order to reach the...
Sex Ed
August 7, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
What is it that determines who we are sexually attracted to? This is a surprisingly complex question to answer because attractiveness appears to depend upon a number of factors. Some...
Sex Ed
July 30, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
How do you feel about the first time you had sex? If you pose this question to a bunch of different people, you’re bound to find a range of responses....
Gender, Sex Ed
July 25, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Although many women and their sexual partners have taken some time to familiarize themselves with the vagina, the reality is that most of us don’t know as much as we...
Sex Ed
July 11, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
The penis is a fascinating piece of human anatomy; however, most of us know surprisingly little about it. So, I decided to compile a list of ten of the most...
Sex Ed
June 29, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Women have the potential to become pregnant whether or not they reach orgasm during vaginal intercourse. This observation has generated a long-standing scientific debate about why women have orgasms in...
Sex Ed
June 16, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
So far this year, two studies have been released reporting that use of Grindr and other smartphone hook-up apps is linked to a higher prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among...
Sex Ed
June 12, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Whenever you survey people about how many sexual partners they have had in their lifetime, you undoubtedly find a lot of variability. Some people report one or two partners ever,...
Sex Ed
May 28, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
A growing amount of research suggests that what heterosexual women find attractive in men changes across the menstrual cycle. Specifically, women tend to report greater attraction to masculine-looking and -acting...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
May 14, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found that when heterosexual women view different types of pornography, they tend to show a nonspecific genital arousal pattern with respect to the gender of the performers...
Sex Ed
April 30, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Why do human beings have sex? Surprisingly few scientists have bothered to study this question, likely because it’s one that seems to have an obvious answer: humans have sex for...
Gender, Sex Ed
April 25, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
A new porn film entitled Viral Loads has earned quite a bit of attention for its graphic depictions of guys who are eager to give and receive HIV through man-on-man...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
April 21, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Bacteria and viruses are crafty little organisms. They need to be spread quickly from host to host in order to survive, so they tend to evolve in ways that ensure...
Sex Ed
March 26, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Research has found that heterosexual men seem to be able to detect when women are ovulating and this, in turn, appears to have implications for guys’ behavior. For instance, one...
Sex Ed
March 24, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
With the exception of a few counties in Nevada, prostitution is illegal throughout the United States. Given that sex work is something that largely exists in the shadows, next to...
Sex Ed
March 19, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
For years, we have heard claims on many political talk and news shows that reducing birth control costs and/or making contraception more widely available will increase female promiscuity. For example,...
Safe Sex, Sex Ed
March 10, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists have long known that women sometimes experience multiple orgasms. Indeed, in their 1966 book entitled Human Sexual Response, William Masters and Virginia Johnson noted that:“The human female frequently is...
Sex Ed
March 3, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
In the not-too-distant past, masturbation was routinely denounced as an activity that not only damages your health, but also your soul. Physicians and priests would warn people about the dangers...
Sex Ed
February 12, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
How attractive do you find the prospect of sex with animals? Do you think it would be fun to watch another person urinate? Do you find shoes erotic? If you’re...
Kink & BDSM, Sex Ed
February 11, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
A surprising number of heterosexual married men have so-called "cuckold fantasies," meaning that they find the prospect of watching their wives have sex with other guys to be sexually arousing...
Sex Ed
February 5, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
How many people had an orgasm the last time they had sex? Are certain sexual activities linked to a greater likelihood of orgasm than others? Check out the infographic below...
Sex Ed
January 29, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found changes in women’s sexual attitudes and behaviors during ovulation. For example, research suggests that ovulating women opt for sexier and more revealing clothing [1] and move...
Sex Ed
January 24, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
In the last few years, several smartphone apps that help men who have sex with men (MSM) find casual sex partners have entered the market. Perhaps the most well-known of...
Sex Ed
January 20, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Several recent studies have found that heterosexual men make judgments about women’s sexual intent based upon their physical appearance. For example, men think women are more interested in and willing...
Sex Ed
January 15, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Imagine that you’re sitting in bed watching some porn on your smartphone or laptop. You look up to see that your partner has just entered the room. What do you...
Sex Ed
January 8, 2014 by Justin Lehmiller
Although most teenagers in the United States receive some form of sex education in school, teens have no guarantee of receiving comprehensive or reliable information about contraception, safe sex, or...
Sex Ed
December 25, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
So this is Christmas, and what have you done? In all likelihood, you’ve probably had some sex. Research has found that there are seasonal peaks in sexual activity, with one...
Sex Ed
December 13, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
A recent survey of over 2,000 adult Americans revealed that, among smartphone users,1 in 10 reported having used their phone during sex. Naturally, this made me curious about what people...
Sex Ed
December 4, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Results from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) were just released and they give a fascinating glimpse into the sex lives of the British population. Also,...
Sex Ed
December 2, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
There is a growing body of evidence that what heterosexual women find attractive in men varies across the menstrual cycle. Specifically, when women are at their most fertile (i.e., when...
Sex Ed
November 25, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Erotic dreams are common. In fact, research has found that as many as 93% of men and 86% of women report having had them before [1]. Some people dream about...
Sex Ed
November 18, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Much has been said and written about how many calories human beings burn during sexual activity. Physicians estimate that the average caloric expenditure during sex is probably a lot lower...
Sex Ed
November 13, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Explaining the evolutionary significance of the female orgasm has long been a conundrum for scientists. Why does the female orgasm exist if it is not necessary for reproduction to occur?...
Sex Ed
November 6, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Prostitution is sometimes referred to as “the world’s oldest profession” because the sale of sex can be traced back to almost all cultures and societies in recorded history. However, the...
Sex Ed
November 1, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
People have a tendency to equate terms like “casual sex” and “sexual hookup” with “one-night stand.” However, this greatly oversimplifies that nature of casual sex in the modern world. The...
Sex Ed
October 30, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Despite the fact that sexual scientists have long considered the breasts and nipples to be among the human body's biggest erogenous zones, there has been surprisingly little research on the...
Gender, Sex Ed
October 23, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Much has been written in the popular media about hookups among college students; however, surprisingly little research has actually been conducted on this topic, particularly with regard to how young...
Sex Ed
October 21, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Our mood states and behaviors naturally vary over the course of the year. For example, some people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder, a form of depression that usually kicks in during...
Sex Ed
October 16, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
What is it like to work in the world of porn? I'm sure most of you could hazard a guess, but let's take a look at what the research says....
Sex Ed
October 14, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
The title of a forthcoming article in the journal Personal Relationships recently caught my eye: “Sowing Wild Oats: Valuable Experience, or a Field Full of Weeds?” As a sex researcher,...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
October 9, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Pubic hair removal is not a new practice among women. In fact, we have reason to believe that women have been removing at least some of their hair "down there"...
Sex Ed
September 30, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual difficulties are common. National survey data have found that as many as 43% of women and 31% of men in the United States report some type of sexual dysfunction,...
Sex Ed, Sex Tips
September 25, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
When it comes to penises, many people appear to subscribe to the belief that "bigger is better." We see this in the world of porn, which tends to glorify men...
Sex Ed
September 11, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
We live in a world in which women are constantly reminded that their breasts are inadequate. From grossly proportioned Barbie dolls that bear little resemblance to the average woman's figure...
Sex Ed
September 9, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Evolutionary psychologists believe that men and women have evolved fundamentally different mating strategies in order to maximize the chances of passing along their genes to future generations. It is theorized...
Sex Ed
August 26, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Numerous media reports have appeared recently suggesting that there has been an “explosion” of sexting behavior among adolescents, which is just the latest in a string of claims about the...
Sex Ed
August 19, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Although “safe sex” means different things to different people, the most common thing people associate with this term is the male condom. We have been told time and again by...
Sex Ed
August 6, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Female sexual pleasure is a rare topic of discussion in sex education courses. One consequence of this is that the female orgasm is something that many people know far too...
Sex Ed
July 31, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Research has found that women attempt to enhance their attractiveness when they are ovulating, a finding that many scientists have argued is an evolved mechanism designed to increase their odds...
Sex Ed
July 29, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Decades of research in sexual health has revealed that people do not practice safe-sex consistently. Of course, part of the reason for this is because condoms are not always available...
Sex Ed
July 19, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
"Masturbation and nocturnal sex dreams to the point of orgasm are the activities which provide the best measure of a female's intrinsic sexuality.” –Alfred Kinsey (1953)Many people only associate terms...
Sex Ed
July 19, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Although people almost universally agree that cheating is wrong, infidelity remains incredibly common. Although people almost universally agree that cheating is wrong, infidelity remains incredibly common. Most discussions about cheating...
Sex Ed
July 17, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Being able to talk about sex with your partner is important. As I have discussed in previous articles, couples who communicate more in the bedroom (or wherever it is that...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
July 10, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
I recently came across a journal article entitled Is Cunnilingus-Assisted Orgasm a Male Sperm-Retention Strategy? Naturally, I dropped everything I was doing and read it immediately--how could I not with...
Sex Ed
July 9, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Condoms are one of the most popular and effective methods of protection against both sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies. However, in order to provide this protection, condoms must be...
Sex Ed
July 3, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Most research on men's sexual behaviors describes guys as either men who have sex with women (MSW) or men who have sex with men (MSM). Rather than treating bisexual men...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
June 26, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
What does it mean to be "abstinent?" It depends who you ask. A recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior finds that there is incredible variability in people's...
Sex Ed
June 24, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
If you’re anything like me, you have probably heard over and over that women reach their sexual peak in their 30s, quite a bit later than men. Naturally, I have...
Sex Ed
June 21, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
In my experience as a sex educator, the female orgasm has generated far more questions than any other topic. “Why do some women have an easier time reaching orgasm than...
Sex Ed
June 19, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Fake orgasms are a common topic of discussion in the popular media, from television (e.g., Seinfeld, Sex and the City) to film (e.g., When Harry Met Sally). So just how...
Sex Ed
June 12, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
When it comes to prostitution, women are much more likely than men to enter the profession. As a result, most research in this area has tended to focus on female...
Sex Ed
June 7, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Gallup recently conducted their annual Values and Beliefs survey and discovered that Americans’ views on sexual morality have shifted significantly in the last dozen years, with particularly notable changes in...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
June 5, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
How are Americans "getting busy" these days? Check out the infographic below to learn what a nationally representative sample of men and women reported doing during their most recent sexual...
Gender, Sex Ed
May 28, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Many of us are curious about the traits and characteristics of people who appear in porn and whether porn stars are as psychologically healthy as the rest of the population....
Sex Ed
May 27, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
There is a big “orgasm gap” between the sexes, such that men are much more likely to reach orgasm than are women in a given heterosexual encounter. However, the size...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
May 21, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
What do "friends with benefits" do beneath the sheets? And do they ever want more than just casual, "no strings attached" sex? Check out the infographic below for the answers....
Sex Ed
May 16, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Just last month, the United States Food and Drug Administration announced that Plan B One-Step (a form of emergency contraception) had been approved for sale over the counter to women...
Sex Ed
May 14, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
To date, most research on prostitution has focused on describing and understanding those who are selling sex. But what do we know about the buyers? Check out the infographic below...
Sex Ed
May 9, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Kinsey Reporter is a new smartphone app that lets people around the world anonymously record the details of their sex lives any time, any place. This app is available for...
Sex Ed
April 26, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Every Friday on the blog, I answer people’s questions about sex, love, and relationships. This week’s question comes from a reader who wanted to know whether faking orgasms is something...
Sex Ed
April 17, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Over the past two decades, sexual content in the movies and on television has become more explicit than ever before. These graphic depictions of sex have become a source of...
Sex Ed
April 8, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
It is a widely held belief that people in sexually monogamous relationships are happier and healthier than their non-monogamous counterparts. For instance, when asked to describe the benefits of monogamy,...
Sex Ed
March 25, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Our sense of smell has long been known to play an important role in sexual attraction. Indeed, the multi-billion dollar perfume, cologne, and deodorant industries are founded on the premise...
Sex Ed
March 13, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
It is a widely held belief that anal sex is “gay sex.” In other words, people tend to assume that anal sex is an activity practiced almost exclusively by gay...
Sex Ed
February 25, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
According to almost every teen-centered film or television show ever produced, losing your virginity is a big deal. A really big deal. But just how important is that one sexual...
Sex Ed
February 13, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Every year on Valentine’s Day, radio stations put Barry White and other deep-voiced male musicians in heavy rotation with the hope of getting their listeners “in the mood.” This is...
Sex Ed
February 11, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Most condoms manufactured and distributed today consist of a “standard” length and width [1]. While the exact dimensions vary slightly across condom companies, there seems to be a widespread assumption...
Sex Ed
February 1, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
Every Friday on the blog, I answer people’s questions about sex, love, and relationships. This week’s question comes from a reader who wanted to know more about the topic of...
Sex Ed
January 28, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the most common concerns people have about condoms is that they may reduce genital sensations, thereby making sexual intercourse less pleasurable. In fact, these fears about reduced sensitivity...
Sex Ed
January 18, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
As much as we might wish otherwise, looks matter in the workplace, and this is true for both men and women. Indeed, your physical appearance can affect everything from your...
Sex Ed
January 16, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
When it comes to making noise in the bedroom, some people prefer silence, while others prefer to wake the neighbors. Although the noisy type are more likely to be on...
Sex Ed
January 14, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
“The best therapy for a man suffering impotence…may be a therapist-supplied ‘other woman’ who embodies patience. Actual patience with a willing woman is crucial.” – Quote from the November 1,...
Psychology, Sex Ed
January 9, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
“Every time you sleep with someone, it’s like you’re having sex with all of their previous partners.” We’ve all heard something like this before, right? The basic idea is that...
Sex Ed
January 4, 2013 by Justin Lehmiller
In the United States, reckless or intentional transmission of HIV is currently illegal in 34 states. Many of you probably think that such laws make intuitive sense--an HIV infection will...
Sex Ed
December 24, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
So this is Christmas, and what have you done? In all likelihood, you’ve probably had some sex. Research has found that there are seasonal peaks in sexual activity, with one...
Sex Ed
December 17, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Society views women who appear in pornographic films negatively. For instance, both male and female college students rate porn actresses as having more negative traits and characteristics than mainstream movie...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
December 10, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
One of the most common questions I get asked is whether too much sex or masturbation is bad for you. As I have written in previous posts, there is simply...
Sex Ed
December 7, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Some women have a more difficult time reaching orgasm than others during sexual intercourse. As a result, sexual scientists have begun looking for biological markers associated with a greater likelihood...
Sex Ed
December 5, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“Friends with benefits” (FWBs) are a popular type of sexual relationship these days, with several survey studies of college students finding that about half of them report having had one...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
November 28, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Although “sex” is a small word, it has quite a big meaning. Sexual behavior comprises a wide range of activities, and there is huge variation in the activities people practice...
Sex Ed
November 26, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
People magazine recently named Magic Mike star Channing Tatum “The Sexiest Man Alive.” Tatum joins the ranks of Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney, all of whom...
Sex Ed
November 12, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual scientists have long known that women have different routes to orgasm. Nearly a century ago, even Freud argued that women can either have clitoral or vaginal orgasms. Although some...
Sex Ed
October 29, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
As I have discussed in past articles, much of what has been said during the recent “war on porn” is inaccurate. There is simply no evidence that consumption of pornography...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
October 17, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Do heterosexual women have an easier time reaching orgasm if their partner has a larger than average penis? For several decades, the answer reported in most sexuality textbooks has been...
Sex Ed
October 8, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Although the teenage birth rate has decreased in the United States in recent years, the percentage of teen girls giving birth is still higher here than anywhere else in the...
Sex Ed
October 3, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
In the not too distant past, scientists could get away with almost anything because ethics boards did not yet exist and it was up to the researchers themselves to determine...
Psychology, Sex Ed
October 1, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
As you may have noticed, heterosexual men seem to have a certain fascination with women’s breasts. Society feeds into this by putting the female chest on display everywhere from Hooters...
Sex Ed
September 26, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Conventional wisdom holds that thinking about sex makes us dumb. Sexual thoughts distract us and make us do stupid things, right? According to Fox News, which recently ran the headline...
Sex Ed
September 24, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Over the past decade, scientists have conducted a boatload of studies correlating finger length ratios with psychological variables. Specifically, they have focused on the ratio of the index finger (the...
Sex Ed
September 17, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“A man who will kiss a pretty girl’s lips passionately may perhaps be disgusted at the idea of using her toothbrush, though there are no grounds for supposing that his...
Sex Ed
September 14, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
How are adolescent boys learning about sex these days? By pointing, clicking, and streaming through a seemingly endless supply of Internet pornography. That’s right, online porn is now the default...
Sex Ed
September 5, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
The debate over male circumcision was revived last month with the publication of two controversial journal articles. First, the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine published an article concluding that...
Sex Ed
September 3, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“My ultimate fantasy is to have a threesome with a girl and a guy…but not with my boyfriend.” – Anonymous sexual fantasy submitted to The Psychology of Human SexualityThink about...
Sex Ed
August 27, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual fantasies exist to serve many different functions, from enhancing sexual pleasure to expressing hidden desires (for a few fantasy examples, see A Top Ten List of Women’s Sexual Fantasies...
Sex Ed
August 24, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” – Todd Akin, Republican Senate Candidate from MissouriIf you’re anything like me,...
Sex Ed
August 20, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
A few months back, I posted an article about some promising new developments in birth control for men. These included the “testicular zap,” which involves performing a specialized ultrasound on...
Sex Ed
August 15, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
In this TEDx video, Gary Wilson discusses his view on how heavy use of online porn may be affecting men’s sex lives. As Wilson points out, accessing pornography through high...
Sex Ed
August 6, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Scientists who want to study what people find sexually arousing usually face a few major challenges. For one thing, simply asking people how aroused they feel in response to a...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
July 23, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“Why don’t you like to be touched?” I whisper, staring up into soft gray eyes. “Because I’m fifty shades of f*cked up, Anastasia.” – Excerpt from Fifty Shades of Grey...
Sex Ed
July 18, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Researchers have known for years that parenthood has some predictable effects on heterosexual couples. Specifically, relationship satisfaction typically decreases [1] and sexual activity usually drops off markedly once kids enter...
LGBTQIA+, Sex Ed
July 16, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
In 2009, the United States Food and Drug Administration made Plan B, a form of emergency contraception, available to anyone over the age of 17 without a prescription. To obtain...
Sex Ed
July 4, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex surveys have been controversial ever since the pioneering work of Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s and 50s. There has been a persistent concern that asking people questions about sex...
Psychology, Sex Ed
June 25, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual scientists have long believed that testosterone plays an important role in generating sexual desire. Just consult any Human Sexuality textbook and you’ll likely find a lengthy section talking about...
Gender, Sex Ed
June 22, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
I heard a fascinating edition of NPR’s On Point this week about how the bacteria that colonize our bodies impact our health, influencing everything from digestion to immune functioning (you...
Sex Ed
June 18, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
When someone watches pornography, what is it that first captures their attention? Most people would probably guess the actors’ bodies and/or genitals, especially if they’re talking about male porn viewers....
Gender, Sex Ed
June 11, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Everyone knows that pheromones exist in animals. For example, if you’ve ever been around a female dog while she’s in heat, you have probably seen and heard all of the...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
June 6, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“Research has shown that men are more visually stimulated, while women are more literary; they’re turned on by words or erotic stories.” – Dr. Michael Krychman on Fifty Shades of...
Gender, Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
May 21, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Most heterosexual couples assume that if they’re using “the pill” or condoms to prevent pregnancy, they probably don’t have much to worry about because these forms of contraception are highly...
Sex Ed
May 2, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Sexual scientists do not agree on why the female orgasm exists. Most of the theories that have been offered to date suggest that the ability of women to climax during...
Sex Ed
April 25, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
The use of scantily clad women to sell products is a popular strategy among advertisers hocking everything from beer to floral arrangements to spicy BBQ burgers (click here for just...
Sex Ed
April 18, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Yes, you read that headline right. Last year, the president elect of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Lazar Greenfield, resigned from his position after penning a controversial Valentine’s Day...
Sex Ed
April 11, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Makes me feel so fine, helps me relieve my mind, sexual healing baby, it’s good for me. – Marvin GayeThe idea that sex can relieve stress for couples is pervasive...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
March 26, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
There is a growing body of research indicating that women’s sexuality changes as they near ovulation. For example, ovulating women tend to dress in sexier clothes and reveal more skin...
Sex Ed
March 21, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“Friends with Benefits” (FWBs) are usually thought of as relationships in which two good friends decide to become sexually involved. This is how they are most often depicted in the...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
March 19, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
"America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
March 12, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
The hymen is a membrane that partially covers the vaginal opening and is thought be break during a woman’s first attempt at intercourse. An intact hymen is therefore often presumed...
Sex Ed
March 5, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
In the not too distant past, circumcision (i.e., surgical removal of the foreskin from a penis) was a routine procedure performed on virtually all infant boys in the United States....
Sex Ed
February 29, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
A few weeks back, I posted a Top 10 List of Sexual Fantasies, which contained a set of fun fantasies people have anonymously submitted to me over the years. As...
Gender, Sex Ed
February 13, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Every day, we are bombarded with messages telling us that “bigger is better” when it comes to breasts and penises. From top-heavy Barbie dolls and female celebrities with gargantuan chests...
Gender, Sex Ed
February 6, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Several studies have found that, while some women experience orgasms from vaginal penetration alone, others do not [1]. What exactly accounts for this difference? Some research suggests that one of...
Sex Ed
January 30, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Psychologists have known for some time that people’s mood states and behaviors can change with the seasons. For instance, some people experience what is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, a...
Dating & Relationships, Sex Ed
January 25, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
The stereotypical picture of a heterosexual couple post-coitus depicts a frustrated woman who wants to talk and cuddle staring at a sleeping (and usually snoring) man. Such tension between the...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
January 12, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“Masturbation: the primary sexual activity of mankind. In the nineteenth century it was a disease; in the twentieth it's a cure.” – Thomas SzaszOne of the most common sexual topics...
Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
January 9, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
Research indicates that most women have faked an orgasm at least once in their lives [1]. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to most of you, given how frequently...
Sex Ed
January 2, 2012 by Justin Lehmiller
“I’m not even sure bisexuality exists. I think it’s just a layover on the way to gaytown.”– Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City)Many of you are probably familiar with the...
LGBTQIA+, Myth vs Fact, Sex Ed
