Due to a more permissive mindset in most societies, many people are a little bit more relaxed about waiting for marriage to have sex. Indeed with the advent of online dating apps, casual hookups are slowly becoming the norm.
“We found that men more than women regret passing up casual sexual opportunities; women more than men regret having had casual sex,” said the study
Another study explained the fact that men would be more likely to regret not taking advantage of offers for casual sexual interaction to biology.
The Sexual Regret: Evidence for Evolved Sex Differences study: said ” missed sexual opportunities historically carried higher reproductive fitness costs for men than for women.
Women are more likely to regret their casual sexual encounters but that is because they are less likely to be satisfied by their partners at these interactions.
“Women’s increased regret about experiencing casual sex may be due to less sexual gratification experienced in these sorts of encounters. We did find than women reported markedly lower levels of physical gratification from casual sex (statistically fully accounting for the sex difference), said the Norwegian study.
Society’s archaic notions of respectability and the placing of responsibility for purity and chastity solely on women shoulders are other reasons that women might experience anxiety about their one night stands.
“Worrying more about reputation, experiencing less sexual pleasure, having low levels of sexual desire, and expressing attitudes disapproving of uncommitted sex all predicted higher levels of casual sex regret for women,” suggests the study.
Other factors that might make women more likely to regret their decision to have casual sex are their reputation, fear of STIs and pregnancy.
The good news is that things are different with a woman who had made up her mind about where she stood in terms of her sexuality. The report also took into account women who don’t have internalised restrive ideas when it comes to sex.
“Apparently, women whose sexual strategy attitudes are less restricted experience more regret about passing up sexual opportunities compared to sexually restricted women,” said the study.
