Women who make the first move are less likely to regret one night stands

A new study has found that young women are less likely to regret having casual sex if they took the initiative and - unsurprisingly - if the experience was good.

The research has been conducted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the University of Texas where they quizzed both Norwegian and American students on their feelings about one night stands.

In total 547 Norwegian and 216 American students were involved in the study, all of which were under the age of 30 and identified themselves as heterosexual.

The aim of the study was to discover why women tend to regret casual sex more than men do.

The results showed that factors like worry, disgust and pressure help increase the feeling of regret, while gratification, sexual competency and who took the initiative resulted in less regret.

The BBCreport that previous studies have shown that men usually regretted one night stands less than women, regardless of who made the first move.

Professor David M. Buss of the University of Texas was one of the authors of the study, told the BBC:

Women who initiate sex are likely to have at least two distinguishing qualities.

First, they are likely to have a healthy sexual psychology, being maximally comfortable with their own sexuality.

Second, women who initiate have maximum choice of precisely who they want to have sex with.

Consequently, they have less reason to feel regret, since they've made their own choice.

The study also showed that feelings of "revulsion" were the biggest turn off for men and women after a brief sexual encounter.

This though is seen as encouraging by the experts as it shows a good awareness of what type of person people want to have sex with.

Buss adds:

Sexual disgust is an important adaptive emotion.

It functions to help people avoid, now or in the future, potential sex partners who are either low in mate value or who carry some risk of sexually transmitted infections.

In addition to this, the researchers believe that the focus on the quality of the sex shows that a man has the potential to be a good partner for a woman, mostly due to the biological differences between the two genders.

Biologically, women are also likely to be more invested in the act of intercourse, due to the possibility of getting pregnant.

One additional finding from the study was that American students were having less one night stands than their Norwegian counterparts, but the reasons for regret were similar amongst both nationalities.

HT BBC

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