Sexual topics are often considered taboo. But a new study is shedding light on sexual fantasies and what they can reveal about you.
Scientists at Michigan State University analyzed the frequency and types of sexual fantasies of more than 5,000 people. The results revealed unexpected connections between the participants' deepest desires and their personality traits.
According to the study, if you have frequent sexual fantasies, you are more likely to have a more neurotic personality or experience depressive symptoms.
In contrast, those who rarely experience such fantasies are more likely to be consistent and cooperative, respecting social rules and norms.
“People with negative emotionality may engage in sexual fantasies as a way to manage their emotional state and compensate for bad moods,” the scientists explained. “Whereas cooperative people may fantasize less due to respect for norms and others.”
Sexual fantasies are rarely discussed, largely due to shame and stigma. As a result, there has been little research on how often they occur, who has them more, and whether the types of fantasies vary.
For this study, 5,225 adults were asked about the nature and frequency of their fantasies. The fantasies were classified into four main categories:
Exploratory: participating in orgies or sexual experiments.
Intimate: sexual intercourse in a romantic setting, outdoors or in private.
Impersonal: looking at others during sexual intercourse.
Sadomasochistic: fantasies involving violence or domination.
Participants also completed questionnaires to measure five main personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The analysis found that people with high levels of commitment and cooperativeness had fewer sexual fantasies across all four categories. “Cooperativeness and commitment are associated with norm adherence, harm prevention, and traditionalism,” the researchers explained. This suggests that they are less likely to engage in fantasies that are nontraditional or violate social norms.
On the other hand, those with high levels of neuroticism – especially those with depressive tendencies – reported more frequent sexual fantasies. “The fact that depression is strongly associated with sexual fantasies, while anxiety and mood swings are not, supports a possible emotional regulation function of sexual fantasies,” the researchers added.
The researchers hope that these results will help lead to more informed and positive conversations about sex. They also suggest that future studies explore whether personality differences can predict changes in sexual fantasies over time or in different relationship contexts.
Another recent study from Indiana University Bloomington revealed what people enjoy most about sex. A survey of more than 4,000 people revealed 22 top reasons, from "kink and pain" to "children and procreation."
While many might expect "orgasm" to be at the top of the list, the result was unexpected: the thing people value most is closeness and intimacy.
“Responses related to intimacy were the most common,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy. Some participants described feelings such as “lost in the moment” (57-year-old bisexual woman), “an extraordinary sense of closeness” (50-year-old lesbian woman), and “a feeling that the world doesn’t exist; only the two of us matter” (42-year-old bisexual woman). /GazetaExpress/
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