Later Life Sex Differences in Factors in Choosing a Long-Term Partner, Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes, and Sexual Fantasies

Later Life Sex Differences in Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Gavin Vance, Todd K. Shackelford, Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford. [in press, Personality and Individual Differences, November 2019]. http://toddkshackelford.com/downloads/Vance-et-al-PAID.pdf

Abstract: Several sex differences in sexual psychology and behavior have been documented across cultures and across historical periods. These differences have been investigated almost exclusively inyoung adult samples, however. Using data secured from an older adult sample of retirement center residents in Southeast Florida, USA(n= 186, M= 67.00years), we assessed the replicability of several sex differences in sexual psychology and behavior in later life. Results replicate the sex differences identified in younger adult samples, including: (1) older men more than older women report interest in a greater number of sexual partners;(2) older men require less time before consenting to sex than do older women;(3)older men more than older women prioritize attractiveness in a prospective romantic partner, whereas older women more than older men prioritize good financial prospects; and (4) older men report a higher frequency of sexual arousal and sexual fantasies than do older women. Discussion addresses limitations of the current research and directions for future research addressing later life sex differences in sexual psychology and behavior.

Keywords: older adults; later life; sexual psychology; sexual behavior; sex differences; sexual fantasies

Discussion

The results of the current study provide a compelling argument for the persistence of several sex
differences in sexual psychology and behavior among older adults, replicating the results of parallel research
on young adults. Older men desire a greater number of sexual partners than do older women, require less
time before consenting to sex, and fantasize about more sexual partners, indicating that sex differences in
sexual psychology and behavior identified in young adulthood persist into later life.

Factors in Choosing a Long-Term Partner

Older men report a preference for attractive long-term partners, as well as good housekeepers,
whereas older women report a preference for prospective partners with access to resources. Younger men
also prefer attractive long-term partners more than do younger women, indicating that attractiveness in a
long-term partner remains important for men into later life. Older women more than older men, in contrast,
report preferences for financial prospects, emotional stability, and ambition in a prospective long-term
partner. These findings are consistent with sex differences documented in younger adults; however, unlike
younger women, older women placed greater importance than did older men on emotional stability in a long term
partner (Buss et al., 2001). These results suggest that emotional stability in a long-term partner becomes
more important to women as they age, or less important to men as they age. This could be because older
women, relative to younger women, associate emotional stability more closely with earning potential or
because older women perceive emotional stability as indicative of a partner’s ability to provide adequate care
for them in their old age.

Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes

Older men are more likely than older women to report sex with someone other than their committed
romantic partner at some point in their lives, but were just as likely as older women to report that they had
been unfaithful to their current romantic partner. Because participants were asked about behaviors in the past,
it is perhaps not surprising that older men’s reported frequencies of infidelity and lifetime sexual partners are
similar to reports by younger men (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983; Buss, 1989; Wiederman, 1997).
Consistent with sex differences identified in younger adults, older men desired more sexual partners
than did older women for every future time interval from 6 months to the remainder of their lives (Buss,
1989). Although nearly all (95.5%) of the older men reported that they were currently in a romantic
relationship, they also reported a desire for more sexual partners than did older women, only 63.7% of whom
reported that they were currently in a romantic relationship. Regardless of age or relationship status, men
desire a greater number of sexual partners than do women.

Relative to older women, older men report a greater likelihood of consenting to sex with a desirable
person after knowing that person for time periods ranging from one second to three months. Replicating sex
differences documented in younger adults, older men appear to be less interested in spending time getting to
know a prospective sexual partner than are older women (Buss, 1989). Given that older men desire more
sexual partners than do older women, it follows that they are more eager than older women to have sex with
a person they have known for a relatively short period of time.

Sexual Fantasies

Asking participants about their sexual fantasies provided further insight into the sexual desires of
older people, in addition to affording an opportunity to investigate whether these desires differ between older
men and older women in ways paralleling sex differences identified in younger adults. Older men, relative to
older women, report a greater frequency of sexual arousal and sexual fantasy, more imagined sexual partners
during their fantasies, and place greater importance on the facial and genital features of their imagined
partners. From these survey items, we documented not only that older men engage in certain sexual
behaviors more frequently than do older women, but also that the sexes differ markedly in reported sexual
arousal and desire. These results are notable because they indicate that, even if older adults are inaccurate in
their estimates of lifetime sexual partners, older men currently desire more sexual partners than do older
women. These sex differences in sexual fantasy replicate those documented in younger adults (Ellis &
Symons, 1990).