Men's sexual desire peaks around their late 30s to early 40s rather than in early adulthood, a pattern that does not align with the expected trajectory of testosterone decline, according to a large population-based study. The analysis of 67,334 adults (70% women, 30% men) aged 20 to 84 years from the Estonian Biobank, published in Scientific Reports, also found that the gender gap in sexual desire exceeded effect sizes documented in previous meta-analyses, with men reporting substantially higher desire than women across most of the adult lifespan.
Sexual desire is a vital component of human relationships and well-being, yet population-level benchmarks for how desire typically varies by age, gender, and life circumstances have been limited by small sample sizes in prior research.
Researchers measured desire using a two-item scale assessing sexual urges and thoughts, then examined associations with age, gender, sexual orientation, relationship status, relationship satisfaction, parenthood, education, and occupation.
The age trajectory for men was surprising. Rather than showing steady decline from early adulthood, men's desire peaked around their late 30s to early 40s before gradually decreasing. The researchers noted this pattern does not align with the well-documented trajectory of testosterone decline, which begins gradually after the early 30s, suggesting factors beyond hormonal changes, such as relationship stability or psychosocial influences, may sustain desire through midlife.
The gender difference in desire was substantial. Even at women's peak desire in their 20s to early 30s, their average levels remained below men's averages across most of adulthood. Men's desire only declined to match women's historical peak levels after age 60. The effect size for gender exceeded medium-to-large benchmarks from previous meta-analyses, which the researchers attributed partly to the reliability of their measure and the quality of biobank data.
Sexual desire declined with age in both genders, but the decrease was steeper among women, particularly following menopause. As a result, the gender gap widened with age: the standardized difference was 0.59 among those aged 18 to 29 years and increased to 1.14 among those aged 60 years and older.
Sexual orientation showed notable patterns. Bisexual and pansexual participants reported higher desire than heterosexual participants, while asexual participants reported the lowest levels. These differences persisted following adjustment for age, gender, and other demographic variables.
Parenthood was associated with desire differently for men and women. Among women, having more children was linked to slightly lower desire, consistent with research on caregiving demands and hormonal changes. Among men, however, the pattern was neutral or even positive, with greater number of children predicting higher rather than lower desire. This interaction effect strengthened with each additional child, highlighting divergent experiences of parenthood between genders.
Relationship satisfaction was positively associated with desire, though the association was low in magnitude. In unadjusted analyses, partnered participants reported higher desire than those living alone. However, in multivariate models controlling for age and other factors, being partnered predicted slightly lower desire, suggesting the initial association was confounded by variables such as age distribution between groups.
Across analyses, demographic and relationship factors accounted for about 28% of variation in sexual desire, with gender and age contributing the largest share. The researchers noted this leaves substantial variance unexplained, pointing to the role of psychological, relational, and contextual factors not captured in biobank surveys.
The study had limitations. The two-item desire measure captured general desire but did not distinguish between solitary vs dyadic desire or partner-specific attraction. The sample was drawn from a single country, and cross-sectional data cannot establish causal relationships or track individual changes over time.
The findings provide population-level benchmarks for how demographic and relational variables shape sexual desire, offering a foundation for applied sexual health research. However, the researchers noted that substantial variance remains unexplained by demographic factors alone.
The authors declared no competing interests.
Source: Scientific Reports