¶ … Women Have a Higher Sex Drive Than Men Do women have a higher sex drive than me

According to Murray and Milhausen (2012) sexual desire is the experience of urges, fantasies and thoughts that push one towards engaging in sexual activity. During the initial stages of a relationship, the desire is usually high owing to the need for one to relate on a sexual level with his or her partner. Though there is agreement about the initial stages of the relationship studies have not offered consistent findings regarding whether and in which way sexual desire can be kept high beyond the initial stages (Murray & Milhausen, 2012).

The question whether the sexual desire of women is greater that than of men or vice versa is both elusive and immediate. It is elusive in the sense that opinions and research on the questions have reported different and often contradictory results. And immediate in the sense that almost each and every adult has had some kind of sexual relationship in their lives. When we told friends that we wanted to scientifically investigate the question, most of them were dismissive arguing that the answer was obvious, however when we asked what the answer was, there were a grand total of three different answers that the sex drive of men was higher, that women's sex drive was higher, that the sex drive of both genders were the same. As pointed out in the beginning of this chapter even academic scholars have differing opinions on the matter. Study findings disseminated to the public have often supported opposite views such as the argument that the majority of women are not disturbed by any type of sexual feelings or the argument that females and not males are the ones who have been biologically structured to be the engines of sex among humans (Kleinplatz, Menard, Paquet, Paradis, Campbell, Zuccarino & ...Mehak, 2009).

So first of all, what exactly is sex drive? It is the feeling of wanting to engage or being interested in an activity of sexual nature. Several studies have asserted that males show more drive to have sex than females (Murray, Sutherland & Milhausen, 2012). Other studies have released similar findings that concluded men think about sex more frequently than women do; that men reported having sexual feelings and fantasies more often than women did. In terms of self-reports on the sexual drive men rated themselves as having higher sexual drive than women. Men were also more inclined to be visually stimulated and also reported a higher likelihood to spend money on prostitutes, pornographic videos and sexual items (Kleinplatz et al., 2009).

Women and men differ in what they want in terms of sexual frequency. When partners in heterosexual relationships do not agree on sexual frequency, the man is often the partner who would like to have sex more times than the woman. In sexual relationships between heterosexual partners, the real sexual frequency often reflects a balance between the drives of both the man and the woman. In homosexual relationships, sexual frequency is a function of the kind of homosexual relationship, with gay couples reported to have more sex than lesbian couples. Moreover, it has been revealed that females are usually more ready to forego sex or stick to marital vows than men. One of the best indicators of sexual desire or drive is masturbation since it is not dependent on partner availability. As men have a higher sex drive they have been reported to more likely masturbate and that too earlier in life and more frequently (Murray et al., 2012).

The intensity and/or frequency of sexual desire are the two things that determine sex drive. The question we are investigating in this report is on whether males like sex more than females or vice versa. This question can be best approached by first assuming the gender issue and delving into the issue of whether two individuals of the same sex would have a difference in their sex drives. In other words, in what ways would a man with a strong drive differ from a man with a weaker one? It is expected that differences would be shown in terms of the readiness to make difficult choices to have sex, the frequency of fantasizing about sex, the different number of partners, masturbation frequency, the kinds of sexual acts desired, and the frequency of having sex (Karabulut & Erci, 2009).

This research aims to look into the differences in sexual drive using the expected pertinent variables discussed above. The many contradictory findings in academic research reveal that there is a need to find convergence between the many studies investigating the iterations of the question of whether there are differences in sexual drive...

When investigating over 170 studies on gender differences in terms of sexual drive, huge differences were reported in the sexual act of masturbation, with many studies pointing to males having greater interest in sex (Impett, Strachman, Finkel & Gable, 2008).
1.2. Theoretical and Operational Definitions

Value judgements, general confusion and theoretical discourses on the issue of gender differences in terms of sexual drive may arise by mixing or exchanging facts or concepts so that both are not talking of the same thing from either side. There are many variables or concepts in the matter completely independent from the others, and it is important to differentiate the concepts clearly (Impett et al., 2008).

The term sex drive as will be used in this proposal has the same meaning as sexual desire and they both refer to sexual interest or motivation frequently focused on the urge to have sexual pleasure or to engage in sexual activity. The term sexual desire is perhaps the most appropriate for this proposal than sexual drive. For example, the statement that, an individual with a greater sex drive is one who has more frequent/intense desires for sex, makes a fine distinction of how the two words can be interchanged. According to an observation made by Van Anders (2012) interest in sexual activity can stem from different sources including desire to reproduce, increase feelings of domination, or to relieve oneself from stress. This research will focus only on the interest in sex that is driven by the desire for sex itself. One of the other important things to note in this discourse is that the word "drive" does not automatically mean an inborn biological inclination (Impett et al., 2008).

Another term that should be clearly defined is sexual capacity, when used in this proposal means the maximum amount of sex that one can engage in. An individual with a larger sexual capacity is one who has the ability to engage in sex more frequently, or with multiple partners or for longer periods. For the purposes of explaining sexual capacity, see these examples, men are assumed to be equally capable of dieting when compared to women but seem less motivated to do so. Similarly, women also have the same capacity to watch live sports as men but also seem less driven to do so, thus any proof of greater sexual capacity by either men or women would not automatically have an implication on the issue of whether there is a difference in sexual drive. Nonetheless, the issue of sexual capacity is important in other scientific discourses on sex (Impett et al., 2008; van Anders, 2012).

Finally, we also have to define the term sexual enjoyment. The term as used in this proposal will mean the quantity of pleasure that one gets from engaging in a sex. An individual who experiences greater sexual enjoyment is one who gets more pleasure out of the activity. Obviously, the amount of pleasure that one gets is different for different persons and also for different activities and sessions- meaning that most people have probably had good and bad sex at some point in their lives and at the same time there may be personal variations in the degree of pleasure derived. Unlike sex drive, enjoyment is a result/outcome and hence it is theoretically different from sex drive, even though a greater sex drive would be associated with greater enjoyment (Giles, 2008; van Anders, 2012).

1.3. Rationale of the study

This study focuses on sex drive and therefore will be dealing with the desire to have sex. Operationally, it is our opinion that greater sex drive will be manifested in several different behaviours owing to the strong desire to have sex more often and attempts to get more satisfaction. Greater sex motivations/desires often override other motivations and the outcome is that the resulting behaviour is almost always linked to that greater motivation (Murray & Milhausen, 2012).

1.4. Research question and hypothesis

Research question

Do women have a higher sex drive then men?

Hypotheses

H0: Women do have a higher sex drive then man

H1: There is no significant difference between men and women sex drive

2. Literature Review

Studies done in the last few years on the unwanted/uncontrollable sexual fantasies give more evidence to the argument that the male sex drive often results in…