A new study indicates that high numbers of previous sexual partners are a turn-off for both men and women when looking for a spouse.
Over 5,300 people in 11 countries around the globe took part in the research, published in Scientific Reports, which concluded that, from an evolutionary psychology point of view, fewer past sexual partners is generally preferred for a whole host of reasons.
Concerns about sexually transmitted diseases, trustworthiness, and even who the father of the child is or who will be left 'holding the baby' all come into play, whether consciously or not, when choosing a mate.
Participants in the study were shown images and profiles of hypothetical mates with information about their past number of sexual partners and the rate at which they acquired these partners.
The likelihood of a profile being acceptable to the viewer dropped significantly when the number of partners increased from four (the minimum used in the study) to 12. This was true of both men and women across nearly all countries.
While an increased number of sexual partners always led to less acceptability, the degree to which this occurred did vary by country. Norwegians and Americans, while still preferring fewer past sexual partners, where more willing to tolerate higher figures, while Poles and Chinese were less tolerant.
Generally, men and women had the same responses; however Chinese men were found to be more willing than Chinese women to accept a person who had had 12 or 36 previous partners. This apparent anomaly may be due to “severe male overrepresentation in the Chinese population due to the one-child policy and the traditional Chinese preference for a son”, according to Sociology Professor Emerita Rosemary Hopcroft of the Institute for Family Studies.
More important than the raw number of previous partners was the full picture of an individual's sexual history. There was greater tolerance for potential partners who displayed decreasing sexual activity over time, while those with intensifying or fluctuating sexual histories were viewed with greater scepticism.
Writing for the Institute for Family Studies, Professor Hopcroft argued, “If a potential partner has not been sexually promiscuous in the past, it is likely he or she will continue to behave that way in the future.”
She added, “However, if that person has both a history of promiscuity and is getting more promiscuous over time, that person is unlikely to be a faithful mate and is likely to have other traits that are undesirable.”
