The psychology behind casual sex

There are as many ways to relate to each other as there are people in the world., whether on a physical, emotional or sexual level. One of these forms is casual sex, a type of temporary bond with someone with whom we share sporadic moments of sex.

But what’s behind casual sex? What is valued when “choosing” a partner for a specific or casual sexual encounter? In this article we reflect on all this based on the findings of a study that also addresses the psychology behind short- and long-term relationships.

Casual sex and other types of relationships: what is valued in each case

March and his colleagues tried explore the nature of casual sex relationships, comparing them with short- and long-term relationships. For their study, they asked about 500 people to respond to a questionnaire.

Participants and what was valued

What profile of participants are we talking about? About half of them were university students, while the rest were already working. Regarding the results, close to the half of men and women reported having had some type of casual sex experience.

The study also asked participants to report the personal characteristics they would consider necessary to want to be involved in one of three types of relationships: long-term, short-term, and casual sex. Thus, they were asked to evaluate the following variables:

Your partner’s desired level of attractiveness.His friendliness.His social status.

Generally, You might think that many of us want our sexual partner to be attractive, kind and wealthy.. However, reality is not always like this, and there are as many realities as there are people. What was done in the study was to give the respondents an amount of dollars to find a partner, which they had to distribute among the three characteristics.

The researchers interpreted that giving a lot of dollars for a trait was an indicator of a need, and that giving a few dollars was a “whim” or something that is preferred, but that is not a necessity (something essential).

Research results, what is valued?

The results of the study pointed out very interesting conclusions, which we show below. When it comes to casual sex, both men and women evaluate a partner’s attractiveness as a necessity, and add that they see these people in their lives more as short-term relationships than long-term ones.

Men vs. women: differences

As interesting data from the study, the researchers found that only women evaluated the kindness of others as a necessary trait as well for casual sex to occur. In this sense, women would experience casual sex relationships in a similar way to more committed or long-term relationships (which does not happen in the case of men).

These data would support the idea that this type of casual sex relationships, at least for women, could be experienced as exploratory relationships on a sexual levelbut with the possibility of ending up becoming a long-term relationship.

In the case of men, they tend to consider casual sex relationships more as a kind of one-night stand, valuing the possibility of a deeper, long-term commitment as remote. More data: to male participants who reported experiencing casual sex They were asked if this type of relationship had given way to one as a couple.and the majority answered no, unlike the women surveyed, who answered yes.

Short-term relationships: what is valued?

For short-term couples (both men and women), attractiveness was evaluated as a necessity (something essential for them)but these same people considered kindness and social status as a luxury or “whim.”

This finding is consistent with the results of much of the current research on short-term and casual sex relationships, which are strictly sexual in nature with no other social or emotional components.

Long-term relationships: what is valued?

For its part, when evaluating possible long-term couples, it was found that Men still considered attractiveness a necessity., but women saw it as an element that would add, but that would not be essential. On the other hand, both men and women evaluated agreeableness and social status at the same level.

These results, however, do not exactly replicate previous findings, which typically show men evaluating attractiveness as something more important and women evaluating social level above attractiveness. This difference could be a reflection of changes in a society in which women are more economically independent.

Individual differences matter

The psychology behind casual sex continues being an interesting topic, which will undoubtedly lead to more research in the future.. What is clear is that we are talking about a type of “relationship” where individual differences are important.

Each person chooses based on their preferences and needs, and what they consider “essential” for a relationship or a sexual encounter, whether in short-term relationships or more established relationships. And also in casual sex!

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