There are (at least) 237 reasons humans have sex.

Asking why humans have sex might seem like an obvious question. It feels good. It bonds us together. Oh, and the future of the human species depends on it.

But prior to the 2007 study, “Why Humans Have Sex,” published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, “the most comprehensive existing taxonomy” cited only eight reasons: “to feel valued by a partner, expressing value for a partner, obtaining relief from stress, nurturing one another, enhancing feelings of personal power, experiencing a partner’s power, experiencing pleasure and procreating.” Oddly, researchers hadn’t delved too deeply into the seemingly simplistic question. With that 2007 study, then, University of Texas psychology professor David Buss handily myth-busted the notion that we can identify humans’ rationales for sex on our fingers.

In it, he and coauthor Cindy M. Meston asked 444 men and women to list all of the reasons they had ever had sex, and the following 237 answers they received ranged far (“I wanted to get rid of a headache”) and wide (“I wanted to feel closer to God”):

1. The person’s physical appearance turned me on
2. The person had a desirable body
3. I wanted the pure pleasure
4. I wanted to achieve an orgasm
5. I wanted the adventure/excitement
6. The person had an attractive face
7. I was “horny”
8. It’s fun
9. The person was too “hot” to resist
10. It feels good
11. I was sexually aroused and wanted the release
12. The person was too physically attractive to resist
13. I wanted to improve my sexual skills
14. It’s exciting, adventurous
15. I saw the person naked and could not resist
16. I wanted the experience
17. The opportunity presented itself
18. I wanted to try out new sexual techniques or positions
19. I wanted to experience the physical pleasure
20. I was curious about what the person was like in bed
21. I hadn’t had sex in a long time
22. I was turned on by the sexual conversation
23. The person smelled nice
24. The person had beautiful eyes
25. The person was really desired by others
26. The person really desired me
27. My hormones were out of control
28. The person wore revealing clothing
29. I am a sex addict
30. I wanted to get the most out of life
31. I thought it would relax me
32. I’m addicted to sex
33. I was curious about my sexual abilities
34. I hadn’t had sex for a while
35. The person was a good kisser
36. I wanted to see what it would be like to have sex with another person
37. The person caressed me
38. The person made me feel sexy
39. I wanted to release tension
40. The person was a good dancer
41. The person was available
42. I was curious about sex
43. I wanted to release anxiety/stress
44. It would allow me to get sex out of my system so that I could focus on other things
45. I was attracted to the person
46. The person seemed self-confident
47. I was frustrated and needed relief
48. I wanted to feel masculine
49. I wanted to act out a fantasy
50. I wanted to satisfy a compulsion
51. I knew the person was usually out of my league
52. The person had a great sense of humor
53. It just happened
54. I wanted to see whether sex with a different partner would feel different or better
55. I was in the heat of the moment
56. I wanted to please my partner
57. It was easier to go all the way than to stop
58. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about
59. I could brad to other people about my sexual experience
60. I wanted to see if I could get the other person in bed
61. I was drunk
62. I wanted to increase the number of sex partners I had experienced
63. I got carried away
64. I wanted to relieve blue balls
65. The person was mysterious
66. An erotic movie turned me on
67. I wanted to celebrate something
68. I thought it would make me feel healthy
69. It seemed like good exercise
70. It became a habit
71. I wanted to make a conquest
72. I wanted to see what it would be like to have sex while stoned
73. I was bored
74. I wanted to lose my inhibition
75. The person flattered me
76. I was under the influence of drugs
77. I wanted to have something to tell my friends
78. I was tired of being a virgin
79. I wanted to get rid of aggression
80. I wanted to dominate the other person
81. I was seduced
82. I wanted to get a raise
83. I wanted to get a job
84. I wanted to get a promotion
85. It was an initiation rite to a club or organization
86. I wanted to give someone else a sexually transmitted disease
87. I wanted to punish myself
88. Someone offered me money
89. I wanted to gain access to that person’s friend
90. I wanted to break up a rival’s relationship by having sex with his/her partner
91. I wanted to hurt an enemy
92. I wanted to get rid of a headache
93. I wanted to even the score with a cheating partner
94. I wanted to get a favor from someone
95. I wanted to breakup another’s friendship
96. Because of a bet
97. The person offered me drugs for doing it
98. My regular partner is boring, so I had sex with someone else
99. I wanted to hurt/humiliate the other person
100. I wanted to breakup my relationship
101. I wanted to be popular
102. The person had a lot of money
103. I felt jealous
104. I wanted to make money
105. I wanted to get a special favor  from someone
106. I thought it would boost my social status
107. It was a favor to someone
108. I was mad at my partner, so I had sex with someone else
109. The person had too much to drink and I was able to take advantage of them
110. It would damage my reputation if I said “no”
111. I wanted to be used or degraded
112. I wanted to get out of doing something
113. I wanted to relieve menstrual cramps
114. I wanted to enhance my reputation
115. I wanted to impress friends
116. I wanted to change the topic of conversation
117. It would get me gifts
118. The person was famous and I wanted to be able to say I had sex with him/her
119. I wanted to feel closer to God
120. I wanted to get even with someone
121. Someone had told me that this person was good in bed
122. I was afraid to say “no” due to the possibility of physical harm
123. I wanted to make someone else jealous
124. I wanted to end the relationship
125. Someone dared me
126. The person bought me jewelry
127. My friends pressured me into it
128. I wanted to get back at my partner for having cheated on me
129. I wanted to make someone else jealous
130. My friends pressured me into it
131. I was competing with someone else to get the person
132. I wanted to brag to my friends about my conquests
133. I wanted to have more sex than my friends
134. I wanted to keep warm
135. I thought it would help me fall asleep
136. I wanted to become more focused on work
137. I wanted to have a child
138. I was slumming
139. The person had taken me out for an expensive dinner
140. I wanted to burn calories
141. I wanted to reproduce
142. I wanted to test my compatibility with a new partner
143. I wanted to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
144. I was on the rebound from another relationship
145. I wanted to defy my parents
146. It’s considered taboo by society
147. I needed another notch on my belt
148. I wanted to reaffirm my sexual orientation
149. I wanted to return a favor
150. I wanted to gain acceptance from my friends
151. Everyone else was having sex
152. I was married and you’re supposed to
153. I realized I was in love
154. I wanted to increase the emotional bond by having sex
155. I wanted to show my affection for the person
156. I wanted to communicate at a deeper level
157. I wanted to express my love for the person
158. I wanted to become one with another person
159. I wanted to feel connected to another person
160. I wanted to say “I’ve missed you”
161. I wanted to celebrate a birthday or anniversay or special occation
162. I wanted to intensify my relationship
163. It was a romantic thing
164. I wanted to welcome someone into my home
165. I wanted to say “I’m sorry”
166. I wanted to put the passion back into my relationship
167. I wanted to say “goodbye”
168. I wanted to say “thank you”
169. I wanted to lift my partner’s spirits
170. It was a special occasion
171. I wanted to get a partner to express love
172. It seemed like the natural next step
173. The person was intelligent
174. I desired emotional closeness
175. I wanted to help my partner forget his/her problems
176. I wanted to keep my partner satisfied
177. I wanted the person to feel good about himself/herself
178. I wanted to make up after a fight
179. I wanted a spiritual experience
180. I felt insecure
181. I felt like it was my duty
182. I felt obliged to
183. I didn’t know how to say “no”
184. I didn’t want to disappoint the person
185. I didn’t want to lose the person
186. I was pressured into doing it
187. I wanted the person to love me
188. I was verbally coerced into it
189. I wanted to boost my self-esteem
190. I wanted my partner to notice me
191. I wanted to be nice
192. I wanted to feel attractive
193. I wanted to keep my partner happy
194. It was expected of me
195. I felt guilty
196. I was afraid my partner would have an affair if I didn’t have sex with him/her
197. I wanted to feel loved
198. I felt like I owed it to the person
199. I wanted to feel powerful
200. I wanted him/her to stop bugging me about sex
201. I wanted to make myself feel better about myself
202. I was feeling lonely
203. I wanted to keep my partner from straying
204. I wanted to feel good about myself
205. I wanted to feel loved
206. I wanted to get my partner to stay with me
207. My partner kept insisting
208. I wanted to raise my self-esteem
209. I wanted to decrease my partner’s desire to have sex with someone else
210. It was the only way my partner would spend time with me
211. I thought it would help trap a new partner
212. I was physically forced to
213. I wanted to possess the person
214. I wanted to keep my partner from straying
215. The person demanded that I have sex with him/her
216. I wanted to make my partner feel powerful
217. I felt sorry for the person
218. I was trying to get over an earlier person/relationship
219. I felt rebellious
220. It just seemed like the thing to do
221. I wanted to stop my partner’s nagging
222. I wanted to submit to my partner
223. I wanted to ensure the relationship was committed
224. I wanted to make the person feel better about himself/herself
225. I wanted to feel older
226. I wanted to prevent a breakup
227. I wanted to display submission
228. I wanted to manipulate him/her into doing something for me
229. I wanted the attention
230. It was just part of the relationship routine
231. I had no self-control
232. I wanted to gain control of the person
233. I wanted to feel feminine
234. I wanted to forget about my problems
235. I wanted to feel young
236. I wanted to fulfill a previous promise to my partner
237. My friends were having sex and I wanted to fit in

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