New research suggests Baby Boomers had more sexual partners than their children.
American researchers at San Diego State University analyzed data from the General Social Survey to determine attitudes on pre-marital sex and the numbers of partners.
Controlling for the age of respondents, the researchers analyzed data from 33,000 U.S. adults between the years of 1972 and 2012 and found significant generational differences on premarital sex, same-sex relationships, and the number of sexual partners.
“Millennials are more accepting of premarital sex than any previous generation, yet have had fewer sexual partners than Gen X’ers. This is consistent with their image as a tolerant, individualistic generation accepting others’ choices and making their own,” lead researcher Jean Twenge said in a San Diego State University press release.
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Baby boomers born in the 1950s and 60s had the most partners, with an average of 11. That number dropped to 10 for those born in the 1970s and dropped to eight partners on average for millennials born in the 1980s and 1990s, according to Science Daily.
This despite the rise of dating and hookup apps like Tinder which allow people of all ages to find relationships digitally from their living room. A 2013 survey of American adults conducted by Pew Research found 22 per cent of people between the ages of 25-34 had tried online dating. Far more than the 17 per cent of adults aged 35 to 44 and almost triple those aged 45 to 54.
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But while millennials may be less willing to get down than their parents, they’re far more accepting of everyone else doing it. Acceptance of premarital sex among baby boomers and Gen X’ers increased from 42 per cent in 2000 to 58 per cent among millennials in 2012.
And acceptance of same-sex relationships more than tripled from 13 per cent among adults in 2000 to 44 per cent in 2012.
“Millennials are more accepting of premarital sex than any previous generation, yet have had fewer sexual partners than Gen X’ers. This is consistent with their image as a tolerant, individualistic generation accepting others’ choices and making their own,” Twenge said.
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So while millennials are more accepting of people with a long list of sexual partners but choosing to sleep with less people, their parents might just be keeping the details of their sex lives a secret.
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