The ratio of more women and fewer men on university campuses leads to more promiscuous sex

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      A Dalhousie University economics professor has suggested that parents should tell their sons: “Work hard so you can go to college. Not only will you make more money, but it's your best chance to get laid."

      That's because the imbalance between men and women in Canadian universities make it a "buyer's market" for sex.

      Marina Adshade teaches a course called "Economics of Sex and Love". And in a recent blog post, she noted that for every 100 men who go to college, there are 136 women. And the high ratio of women to men on campuses is "giving market power to men is leading to an increase in promiscuity on campuses and creating negative attitudes among women toward dating and relationships".

      She based this conclusion on a research paper called “Bare Market: Campus Sex Ratios, Romantic Relationships, and Sexual Behaviour", which was published last year in the Sociological Quarterly.

      The authors, Jeremy Uecker and Mark Regnerus, noted that women on campus become more sexually active and are less likely to be in a relationship when their numbers increase relative to the number of men.

      "Our results suggest that women on campuses where they comprise a higher proportion of the student body give more negative appraisals of campus men and relationships, go on fewer traditional dates, are less likely to have had a college boyfriend, and are more likely to be sexually active," Uecker and Regnerus wrote in the abstract to the paper. "These effects appear to stem both from decreased dyadic power among women on campuses where they are more numerous and from their increased difficulty locating a partner on such campuses."

      Adshade mentioned in her post that evidence "suggests that when women outnumber men, men have greater influence on when a couple has their first sexual experience together".

      "In an environment in which women out-number men there appears to be less traditional dating but more hooking-up," Adshade noted.

      Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

      Comments

      22 Comments

      Aerphex

      Mar 5, 2011 at 2:26pm

      The 'negative attitudes' toward dating surely work both ways, in the end. When there is gender imbalance in a place, the imbalanced groups will always find a way to hate and alienate each other. Just imagine how those over-privileged males on campus will learn to talk and think about women! I'm sure there will be examples of them bragging about their repulsive sexual conquests in this very comments section. Another monster created by society, no doubt.

      Blake

      Mar 5, 2011 at 4:23pm

      Wow. The degradation of sex into economic market terms is vomit inducing. Equally vomit inducing is the assumption in this study that everyone is heterosexual.

      learned a new word - dyadic

      Mar 5, 2011 at 6:33pm

      At least we know where all the sluts end up.

      Michael!

      Mar 5, 2011 at 6:53pm

      I wonder how Adshade explains the recent CDC finding that virginity is actually on the increase in 15-24-year-old females.

      So while her "research" shows a certain behavior in small subgroups (NOT all schools, despite her "fill-in-the-dots" suggestion that it is, but in schools with a greater than normal imbalance), in general, and in the mainstream, young women seem to be having less sex.

      Taxpayers R Us

      Mar 5, 2011 at 7:15pm

      @Aerphex

      I'm a little curious as to how a guy is deemed the monster when it's the women giving freely?

      Double standards anyone?

      Oh, and college was great for sex ;) I have a feeling that based on this alone, the gender imbalance is equalizing as we speak!

      Aerphex

      Mar 6, 2011 at 1:55pm

      Taxpayer: The women aren't "giving freely" when there's an entire culture of male ego that prides itself on taking, taking, taking, like swines at a trough, and coerces others into giving. But thanks for proving my point about the bragging, at least.

      Taxpayers R Us

      Mar 6, 2011 at 3:38pm

      @ Aerphex

      so if they're not giving freely, we have campuses full of women charging for it? lol Damn, I must owe a hefty bill!

      Timmy

      Mar 7, 2011 at 10:41am

      I have no problem having sex with several women at once. Many girls are now finding sex partners off campus through Craigslist!

      Canadian Women Smarter than Men

      Mar 7, 2011 at 4:05pm

      It has been a trend going on for years. Canadian women entering educational facilities out number the men. But despite the staggering numbers women are not landing the jobs in high places. Those positions are reserved for the less intelligent.

      Bruno15

      Mar 7, 2011 at 5:07pm

      Why does the term “promiscuous” conjure up such negative imagery? Everyone likes sex. Everyone. Why do we assume that women do not like multiple partners in the same way that men do? In the year 2011, to read the negativity in the replies to this article is very depressing.