Survey report on women's "sexual regret"

"Previous researchers have focused on the impact of sexual attraction on sexual decisions," said evolutionary psychologist David Buss, who explains the motivation for the study. "This study highlights the importance of emotion - regret over sexual behavior - which may play a guiding role in people's sexual decision-making process."

Sexual Regret Investigation Rules

In one study, participants evaluated hypothetical situations in which they would regret either seeking or failing to have sex, and rated their level of regret on a scale of 1 to 5. Another study recruited 24,230 lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and asked them to fill out a list of common sexual regrets and indicate which of the items on the list they had personally experienced. A smaller number of heterosexual people were also given the same test, compared with homosexual and bisexual people.

The woman who regrets most is sleeping with the wrong person

According to the research, the top three regrets women have are losing their virginity to the wrong person (24%), cheating on their partner (23%) and having sex with someone too quickly (20%).

17% of women expressed regret for having sex with someone who was not satisfactory in appearance, while only 10% of men resented it. Although half of the respondents (56%) have had one-night stands, women are obviously more conflicted and regretful than men.

Men's biggest regret: not actively seeking sexual partners

For men, their biggest regrets were not being proactive enough in seeking sexual partners (27%), not having enough sexual experiences when they were young (23%), and not having enough fun while single (19%).

Comparing gay men, lesbian women, bisexual men, and bisexual women, the results were similar: women regretted having a one-night stand more than men did.

An evolutionary perspective on sexual intercourse

"Throughout evolutionary history, every time a man misses the opportunity to have sex with a new partner, he loses a potential reproductive opportunity, which is a loss from an evolutionary perspective," explained Martie Haselton, a professor of social psychology and doctoral supervisor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "For women, every birth means more work, including a nine-month pregnancy and two years of breastfeeding after birth.