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drive refers to a hypothetical construct encompassing one’s attitudes toward sex, sexual desires, and sexual behaviors (Baumeister, 2000). Men have a stronger sex drive than women, and this difference is evident in cross-cultural research involving men and women from 53 different countries (Lippa, 2009). In each nation studied, men self-reported stronger sex drives than women. While some women do have a very strong sex drive, this sexual functions differently for women than it does for men.

Consistency

Women’s sex drive is more variable than men’s in two ways. First, women’s sex drive is more variable across women (some women have higher sex drive than others, Lippa, 2009) but women’s sex drive is also more variable within individual women (even women with a higher sex drive will not always have a high sex drive). Women's sex drive is influenced by their menstrual cycle as well as their desire for their own partners or for alternative partners (Grebe et al., 2016). Men’s sex drive is not only consistently higher than women’s, but it is more consistent over time and more consistent across individuals as well (Lippa, 2009).

to Others

For both gay and straight men, a high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to either men or women, according to their , but not to both. For straight and bisexual women, however, a high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to both sexes. In research spanning 12 different nations and world regions, Lippa (2007) explored self-reported sex drive and sexual attraction. He found that only lesbian women diverged from this trend: Lesbians with high sex drive reported sexual attraction only to women, but not to men. However, because this research involved self-reported sex drive and sexual attraction, it is possible that some participants did not accurately report their attraction to both sexes (Chivers, 2004).

Sexual Frequency

For both men and women, having a high sex drive is positively correlated with both an unrestricted sociosexual orientation (comfort with casual sex) and a greater number of sex partners (Ostovich and Sabini, 2004). For women, however, the link between sex drive and sexual frequency is impacted by their relationship status. In relationships, women’s levels of sexual desire were directly related to their frequency of intercourse. For men, on the other hand, relationship status did not impact the association between sex drive and sexual frequency (Ostovich and Sabini, 2004). These results may indicate that women's high sex drive is more likely to be expressed within the context of a relationship rather than through seeking new or different sex partners.

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