New Book Studies the Reasons Women Have Sex

In the mood... for research.

Women have sex for all kids of reasons -- pleasure, love, loneliness, drunkeness. But these reasons are not always random. According to a new book from professors of psychology at the University of Texas, the reasons women have sex may have to do with evolution.

In their new book, Why Women Have Sex, psychologists Cindy and David Buss have collected years' worth of scientific studies and research, as well as the the voices of numerous women, in an effort to shed light on the female sexual experience.

Buss himself expressed amazement at the varied emotional importance women place on sex.

"Some sexual experiences that women in our study reported just had devastating effects and long-lasting negative effects on their feelings of self-worth," he said. "But then for others, their sexual experiences provided the soaring height of euphoria and made them feel alive and vibrant."

In the study, Buss and Meston surveyed 1000 women and asked if they had ever had sex for one of 237 reasons. After analyzing the mounds of data, the researchers came to the conclusion that men and women differ in sexual experience mostly because of evolutionary developments.

"The adaptive problem that women have had to solve is not simply picking a man who is fertile," said Buss, "but a man who perhaps will invest in her, a man who won't inflict costs on her, a man who might have good genes that could be conveyed to her children."

Among the other studies in the book that help shed light on sex is one that shows the importance of kissing to women. Also included are numerous stories of women and their sexual experiences from all over the world.