Gender Differences in Sexual Fantasy: an Evolutionary Analysis

The sociobiological analysis of male and female mating strategies leads to the prediction that men would be more inclined to fantasize sex with anonymous and multiple partners than women, whose fantasies would suggest a desire for close-bonded and famous partners. These expectations were confirmed with reference to a nationwide quota poll of 788 British people, representative of four age groups. The most striking difference appeared in the ‘group sex’ item (a male/female ratio of 4.2). As a proportion of total fantasy output, women were more likely than men to fantasize same-sex and famous partners. There were indications of a convergence of male and female fantasies towards middle-age, which might be interpreted as resulting from a liberation from the effects of testosterone and oestrogen respectively. Copyright cj 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.