A new Lovehoney survey has revealed that ‘sex o’clock’ is at vastly different times for men and women. Men most fancy it at the crack of dawn – 7:54am – but women have other priorities and don’t arrive at the party until 11:21pm, more than 15 hours later.
Those are the headline figures in the survey, which was conducted among 2,300 people. A mismatched sex drive appears to be incredibly common in couples, with 68% of women and 63% of men saying they have dated someone whose sex drive was different from their own.
Men feel at their friskiest first thing in the morning, with more than a quarter (28%) most desiring sex between 6am and 9am – with the most popular time at 7:54am (just a few minutes after Radio 4’s Thought For The Day has ended. Coincidence?). Unfortunately for them, only 11% of women are at their most passionate at this time. Desire levels for women rise throughout the day and reach their peak between 11pm and 2am, with a quarter (25%) of respondents choosing this three-hour window as the best time for sex, with 11:21pm the most popular moment, but only 16% of men are in the mood just before they go to sleep.
But Lovehoney found that people tend to settle down with partners who have similar sex drives to their own. Almost two-thirds (63%) of women and 54% of men said they wanted sex as much as their current partner.
There were big differences in how couples’ sex drives vary during the week. Just over half of men (51%) said their sex drive was pretty constant, compared to just 36% of women. Almost half of women (47%) said their sex drive was driven by their moods but this applied to just 34% of men.
Lovehoney co-owner Richard Longhurst said: “This shows that there are big differences in sex o’clock between the sexes. Men are ready for sex just before breakfast whereas women most want passion last thing at night. What is encouraging is that most people tend to find sexual happiness in the end with a partner with similar needs. But Lovehoney has found that most of us do have a few difficult relationships with lovers whose sex drives are different from our own along the way.”
The full results are as follows:
At what time of the day do you most desire sex?
Men Women
6am-9am 28% 11%
9am-1pm 10% 9%
1pm-4pm 5% 8%
4pm-6pm 3% 4%
7pm-8pm 5% 6%
8pm-9pm 10% 9%
9pm-11pm 18% 22%
11pm-2am 16% 25%
2am-6am 3% 3%
