Desire for Sexual Variety in the Greek Cultural Context

Abstract

Human beings exhibit considerable variation in their approach towards the number of sexual partners they wish to have. One consistent predictor of this variation has been sex—men desire more sexual partners than women. The current study aims to examine whether this effect is present in the Greek cultural context. In particular, a sample of 1414 Greek and Greek-Cypriot participants were asked about their desired number of sexual partners at different stages in their lives. It was found that men preferred significantly more partners than women. It was further found that men were divided in their preferences, with about half preferring several, and about half preferring a few lifetime sexual partners. On the other hand, about three-thirds of women preferred a few lifetime sexual partners with about one-third preferring several lifetime partners.