PEORIA, Ill. - The horniest nation isn't the USA. It isn't the Netherlands. According to a survey of nearly 50 countries, Britain ranks No. 1 in its division for being naughty when it comes to casual sex.
The International Sexuality Description Project, an ongoing research study conducted by Bradley University psych professor David P. Schmitt, has found the UK is the most promiscuous major industrial nation.
The U.S. ranked sixth in fact, behind Germany in Second Place, followed by The Netherlands, Czech Republic and the country that wants to filter porn from its Internet, Australia.
More than 14,000 people in 48 countries were surveyed through anonymous questionnaires about topics such as one-night stands, extra-marital affairs, relationships, cheating and general attitudes towards sexuality.
Of all the nations in the study, the least sex-crazed was Taiwan.
Schmitt and his team suggest Britain ranks on top because women in the UK have more sexual freedom than before, combined with other social factors, such as equal pay and equal rights. Also, Britain, despite clichés, is far less stuffy than America and more liberal overall, reports British newspaper The Times.
"Historically we have repressed women's short-term mating and there are all sorts of double standards out there where men's short-term mating was sort of acceptable but women's wasn't," said Schmitt.
The Bradley University study looks at sexuality across cultures, including national averages and sex differences in sociosexuality, regional averages and sex differences in short-term mating interests and regional averages and sex differences in "mate poaching."
The results were combined into a "sociosexuality index," a term used by evolutionary psychologists for measuring sexual perceptions and behavior. Most scored between 4 and 65. Finland rated the highest on the index with an average of 51, while Taiwan came in at 19. Britain scored 40, 11th overall, but ranked highest among the largest Western industrial nations.
Several small Baltic nations ranked higher than the UK on the index, and Schmitt said this may be due to women outnumbering men in those countries.
In noting women's sexual activity, one of the study's more fascinating theories suggests when women are most fertile, instincts will make them more open to one-night stands than men. As with many other studies, men appear to be most lustful in their twenties, while women peak in their thirties or later.
