I like to think that our readers are well-educated, and like to sleep with the likewise well-educated; so I hope this pleases them: Richard D. Hayes, Risk Factors for Female Sexual Dysfunction in the General Population, 5 J. Sex. Med. 1681 (2008), reports that Australian women with a college education were less likely to suffer from “low genital arousal” than women with less education. The result was statistically significant, and the study controlled for age, depression, employment, and various other factors. OK, the response rate wasn’t great, and there were who knows how many possible confounding factors. But it makes me happy, and that’s what counts.
PJens says:
I am going to encourage my wife to take all the continuing education classes she wants to!
December 1, 2009, 11:23 pmGainesvilleGuest says:
I imagine more educated women also have better physical health. This may have something to do with it, if it wasn’t controlled for. But I agree, its a great outcome.
December 2, 2009, 12:07 amneurodoc says:
EV, often you say how something happened to come to your attention, but you didn’t this time. I know your interests are rather catholic and you read widely, but is the Journal of Sexual Medicine a publication you look at regularly?
December 2, 2009, 12:18 amEugene Volokh says:
neurodoc: I somehow got a pointer to an article or blog post about a study on virginity; maybe someone sent it to me (I forget). I then got the study, and blogged about it. The study contained a citation to the female sexual dysfunction study, which I tracked down and just read. It’s great to have a job where you can put off real work to read whatever studies tickle your fancy.
December 2, 2009, 12:31 amGuy says:
So does this vindicate the argument that women who want to go to school and get jobs instead of become housewives are just a bunch of sluts?
December 2, 2009, 12:37 amEugene Volokh says:
Only if you think that being easily sexually aroused by one’s sexual partner makes one a slut — even if, for instance, the sexual partner is one’s spouse. (Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with being a “slut” even under the more common definition, but that’s a different matter.)
December 2, 2009, 12:51 amJPG says:
I suspect this may have a lot to do with the fact that educated people generally tend to be more satisfied by their situation than are less educated people. Personal gratification increases one’s well-being, and I trust most measurements of happiness correlate with social standing. At least, we know a link has been established between education, income and self-esteem. That people with the likeliest bigger social drive are more emancipated in bed is not surprising, neither are EV’s scientific and personal findings when he laid his hand on the subject.
Geeky is the new sexy.
December 2, 2009, 1:12 amJohnF says:
I guess I’ll have to encourage my wife to get an advanced degree in Australia.
December 2, 2009, 1:14 amtheobromophile says:
Further evidence that the Volokh Conspiracy should start a dating section. :)
December 2, 2009, 1:17 amneurodoc says:
Maybe you should invite Dr. Drew and/or Dr. Ruth to guest blog. (Just kidding.)
December 2, 2009, 1:38 amDoc Merlin says:
Education in women correlates with high testosterone level. Testosterone level in women also affects sexual arousal.
December 2, 2009, 1:43 amgwinje says:
Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious causative factor behind these results: all the practice people of both sexes get in the genital arousal department in college and grad school.
December 2, 2009, 3:22 amB.B. says:
Jason Malloy on GNXP had a rather informative post on Intercourse and Intelligence awhile back. Amongst his findings, more intelligent people lose their virginity later in life, have less sexual partners and have sex less often within marriage. He also indicated that women who go to MIT are significantly less likely to masturbate than the average woman.
December 2, 2009, 4:07 amrarango says:
this is why I LOVE this blog–I am off to the next faculty meeting to see what I can rustle up!
Thanks for the suggestion Professor Volokh!
December 2, 2009, 7:16 amTweets that mention The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peter Black and Daniel Weir, Eugene Volokh. Eugene Volokh said: Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused: I like to think that our readers are well-educated, and like t.. http://bit.ly/7Z0qX0 [...]
December 2, 2009, 7:25 amTom from RI says:
Any data on educated women who read Ayn Rand? Can I expect fireworks if I buy my wife “The Fountainhead”?
December 2, 2009, 7:50 amjccamp says:
On some other well-populated VC threads lately, we’ve been hearing quite a bit re: validation. Just wondering…
December 2, 2009, 7:53 amuberVU - social comments says:
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by VolokhConspirac: Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused: I like to think that our readers are well-educated, and like t.. http://bit.ly/7Z0qX0...
December 2, 2009, 8:12 amLaura(southernxyl) says:
I guess I’m pleased by this … not sure how my liking to sleep with the well-educated figures in, since men’s education level isn’t mentioned here.
December 2, 2009, 8:28 amzuch says:
I thought the issue on those threads was “reproduction”. ;-)
Cheers,
December 2, 2009, 9:00 am11-B/2O.B4 says:
Mmmmm, smart chicks!
On the other hand, I’d hazard a confounding variable might be the culture at the vast majority of universities, where sexual promiscuity is rampant (thank the ancestors). More educated women are obviously more likely to have been exposed to this than less educated women. Mere experience and exposure to more permissive norms might go a long way in this case.
December 2, 2009, 9:26 amwws says:
gwinje says:
“Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious causative factor behind these results: all the practice people of both sexes get in the genital arousal department in college and grad school.”
Hmm, I didn’t know that all that solo work would have such results.
“The first time I had sex I was scared, I tell ya, scared! But do you blame me? I was all by myself!!!” – Rodney Dangerfield
December 2, 2009, 9:46 amSeamus says:
You might want to hold off on that. The study just compared college-educated women against those without a college education. It might be that post-baccalaureate educate actually brings libido down. (Just as people with a bachelor’s degree are more likely to vote Republican than either those without a college degree or those with graduate degrees.)
December 2, 2009, 10:15 amrmd says:
Your college had a Genital Arousal Department? I must have missed that in the catalog when I was selecting a major. Just as well; I’d probably have had to be graded on a curve anyway.
December 2, 2009, 12:11 pmmitch says:
This is just what we need, another reason for elites to be self-satisfied and look down on their “inferiors.”
December 2, 2009, 12:18 pmkumquat says:
Genital Arousal faculty are notorious for their love of curves.
December 2, 2009, 12:18 pmtheobromophile says:
Seamus: so we’re really talking about this study?
December 2, 2009, 1:47 pmInstapundit » Blog Archive » RESEARCH: All men watch porn, scientists find. Researchers were conducting a study comparing the… says:
[...] UPDATE: Related (well, sort of): Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused. [...]
December 2, 2009, 2:44 pmInstapundit » Blog Archive » RESEARCH: All men watch porn, scientists find. Researchers were conducting a study comparing the… says:
[...] UPDATE: Related (well, sort of): Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused. [...]
December 2, 2009, 2:44 pmjccamp says:
Zuch –
You’re correct. I have confused replication and validation yet again. Could this be what they mean by “successfully reproducing?” <punctuation inside the apostrophes>
December 2, 2009, 2:50 pmjcm says:
those google boys will be driven crazy, again
December 2, 2009, 2:56 pmtheobromophile says:
This post is #1 in google for “law women aroused.” There’s going to be some interesting hits to the VC from this….
December 2, 2009, 3:21 pmMr. Bingley says:
You must not know a lot of people in Academia…
December 2, 2009, 3:27 pmyankee says:
Is there any actual evidence that college students are more promiscuous than people who go to work right out of high school? Not that I’m aware of. To the contrary, if I recall correctly there’s evidence that college students tend to vastly overestimate the amount of sex their peers are having; same with drugs and booze.
December 2, 2009, 4:12 pmMike C says:
I’ll spare you the details, but my personal experience does tend to correlate well with these results.
It would be interesting to see these data broken out by major field of study, though.
December 2, 2009, 4:23 pmRed says:
Tom from RI—I had a friend who had been married for long time, when for absolutely no reason, he took his wife flowers. Well, the absolutely for no reason “fireworks” changed his mind 180 degrees about buying flowers. He said his only regret was that he didn’t learn the lesson when he was 25 instead of 50. He gave her flowers every week until he passed away.
December 2, 2009, 4:30 pmfit2post says:
I’m looking for a highly educated woman.
It’s my first time, so be genital with me.
December 2, 2009, 4:52 pmProf. S. says:
Nobody’s asked the most important question — how does one get a job testing this?
December 2, 2009, 4:59 pmJM Hanes says:
Why stop at education? The abstract suggests that if you can find a happy, educated woman, on hormone therapy in her 30′s, who places great importance on sex, you can take all the viagra you want.
December 2, 2009, 7:20 pmShelbyC says:
I won’t ask why you were googling “law women aroused”…
December 2, 2009, 8:22 pmwhiskey says:
Would not greater arousal rates by women who are educated correlate with greater infidelity in relationships/marriage? Since the arousal would be greater, and almost invariably with a non-husband/boyfriend but boss, co-worker with greater authority, or status, or what have you? Or they gym trainer?
Of course lower divorce rates among educated can be explained by marriage as a “resource pooler” particularly with children rather than say, the fantasy of John and Abagail Adams. Lower-educated/income people with less income at risk are likely to say “the heck with it” as are the ultra-rich (McCartney, Trump, etc.)
December 2, 2009, 9:08 pmVinny B. says:
What a bunch of crap, for the most part. In my experience, the dumber the girl, the more, um, action i got. That is because those dunces knew they were dumb and had nothing else to hang their hat on. The smarter women I have dated had many more interests.
Look at it like this. Why are Tiger and other dudes always banging cocktail waitresses and strippers, and never seem to be banging lawyers or doctors?
December 2, 2009, 10:54 pmtheobromophile says:
ShelbyC: because jcm said that the google boys would be driven crazy. Presumably, he was referring to the fact that every time one of the Conspirators posts something about this, a week later, they get a hit to their blog from a person looking for “horny women sex” or something. So I made a guess at a search term that would probably bring up the VC and put it in a comment.
That’s a really boring answer. To offset that, I’ll point out that I have a lot of education. ;)
December 2, 2009, 11:49 pmLivin in Cin says:
YEAH! My wife has two BS degrees and a Masters!!!
December 3, 2009, 12:17 amnicoley says:
I knew i was paying $50,000/yr for something
December 3, 2009, 8:57 amSomething Different « says:
[...] 3 December 2009 by hamerdinger Educated Women Are More Easily Sexually Aroused [...]
December 3, 2009, 7:21 pmA. Dawson says:
Ha ha ha… this is a hilarious post. Props to Dr. Volokh for having the stones to post it.
Satirically…
Maybe women with higher education don’t suffer from lower sexual stimulation because they don’t get it as often; whereas women with lower education are constantly getting it and they need a break from it all.
Seriously…
I hope the whole thing is a joke. This kind of study can’t be taken seriously. Life and biology on a whole is a lot more complex than that and can’t be summed up by where you stopped taking examinations.
December 3, 2009, 7:53 pmPapa Ray says:
Study…by whom and with what credentials and real world experience?
I also made a study it has so far taken fifty six years and encompass over one hundred fifty women.
My conclusions are:
Women who don’t work at physical jobs that leave them tired out each and almost every day- like sex more and engage in it more.
Women who don’t have pressing financial worries have more and better sex.
Women who don’t have the responsibility of raising children have more sex and enjoy it more.
Women who have multiple sexual pardners have more sex and enjoy it more and are driven to have even more sex with multiple partners.
Women who have a better education have more free time and are not exhausted by physical labor, financial worries and the 24/7 responsibilitys of raising children or if they do…have money for day care, babysitters and other activities for their kids so that they have all the free time they want for sex or sleeping.
Tired moms with a lot of bills and an absent husband or boyfriend rarely want to have sex and if they do, it’s just not as good.
All opinions above from real life studies, no statistics or scientific nonsense involved.
Papa Ray
December 4, 2009, 11:40 am