Millennials are open to premarital sex but have fewer partners

Millennials may be more tolerant than their parents when it comes to sex before marriage, but a new study finds they have fewer sexual partners on average than Generation X.

The new study from San Diego State University shows that millennials have an average of 8.26 sexual partners, which is less than the estimated average of 10 partners for Generation X. The figures were adjusted for age.

Lead researcher Jean Twenge suspects that this change is related to changing attitudes.

“This is consistent with their image as a tolerant, individualistic generation that accepts the choices of others and makes its own,” Twenge said. “As the culture places more emphasis on the needs of the self and less on social rules, a more relaxed attitude toward sexuality is the almost inevitable result.”

Twenge says there is also more education about sexually transmitted diseases, which could be another factor in the limited number of sexual partners.

The least number of sexual partners among a younger generation comes from the Greatest Generation, those who grew up during the Great Depression, who have an average of 2.16 sexual partners. According to the study, these numbers peaked among baby boomers born in the 1950s, who had an average of 11.68 sexual partners.

The full study can be found in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.