A new international study led by Swansea University has found that people are more likely to judge a potential partner’s sexual history based on when their past encounters occurred, rather than just the total number of partners. The research surveyed over 5,000 participants from 11 countries across five continents.
The study revealed that individuals were generally less willing to commit to someone with a high number of previous sexual partners. However, they were more open if those encounters had become less frequent over time, indicating a shift away from casual sex.
Lead researcher Dr Andrew G. Thomas of Swansea University’s School of Psychology stated: “People use sexual history as a cue to assess relationship risk. In our ancestral past, knowing someone’s sexual history could help people avoid risks like STIs, infidelity, emotional instability, or rivalry with ex-partners.
“Previous studies have shown that people are generally less inclined to pursue relationships with individuals who have had many past sexual partners. However, what’s particularly interesting about this study’s findings is that this effect diminishes when those encounters occurred primarily in the past and this is something we found across the globe."
Participants in the study reviewed visual timelines representing a potential partner’s sexual history. Each timeline displayed the same number of past partners but varied in how those experiences were distributed over time—some concentrated early in life, others spread evenly, and some decreasing as time went on. The results showed that willingness to pursue a committed relationship was influenced significantly by whether new sexual activity had slowed down over time.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, also found little evidence for a sexual double standard. Male and female participants tended to evaluate sexual history similarly across different countries and cultures.
Dr Thomas said: “The results of this study point to a lack of sexual double standards, challenging the idea that women are judged more harshly for their sexual past than men.”
The study further examined how personal attitudes toward casual sex affected these judgments. People who were more accepting of casual relationships were less influenced by a partner’s sexual history but still showed some sensitivity to it.
Dr Thomas concluded: “The online discourse around people’s sexual history can be very damning, but the results of this study reveal the picture is far more nuanced. We’ve been led to believe that society harshly judges those with a sexually adventurous past, but as individuals, people are in fact far more forgiving, particularly if someone’s approach to sex has changed.
“The results of this study not only shed light on the universal nature of our sexual psychology but could be used to combat misogynistic discussion of sexual history online.”