Brits on top in casual sex league as survey reveals we are the most promiscuous in the world

By Caroline Grant
Last updated at 11:19 PM on 30th November 2008

It is far from an achievement to be proud of  -  research suggests that British men and women are the most promiscuous in the Western world.

It appears the days when we took a strict moralistic approach towards sex are long gone.

Researchers blamed the situation on a decline of religious scruples, the growth of equal rights for women and a highly sexualised popular culture.

According to a survey, British men and women are among the most promiscuous in the world

They found that when it comes to one-night stands, numbers of partners and attitudes to casual sex, Britain leads the field, ahead of even liberal nations such as the Netherlands and the passionate Italians.

The researchers believe that our place at the top of the table could be linked to the way society has become more tolerant of sexual promiscuity among women as well as men. Women are now as accepting of one-night stands as men, they claimed. The research was led by David Schmitt, a professor of psychology at Bradley University, Illinois.

He said: 'Historically we have repressed women's short-term mating and there are all sorts of double standards out there where men's short-term mating was sort of acceptable but women's wasn't.'

More than 14,000 people in 48 countries were asked to fill in questionnaires where they were quizzed about numbers of partners and one-night stands. Their attitudes were assessed by asking them how many people they expected to sleep with over the next five years and how comfortable they were with the idea of casual sex.

The results of the study were combined with an index of 'sociosexuality'  -  a measure of how liberal people are when it comes to sex. Most people scored between four and 65, with higher scores showing more liberal approaches. In terms of countries, Finland had the highest rating with an average score of 52 and Taiwan the lowest with just 19.

Britain scored 40, placing it 11th overall, behind countries such as Latvia, Croatia and Slovenia  -  but it was highest among major Western industrial nations with a population of 10million or more.

The results are part of wider research carried out by Professor Schmitt, who releases this part of his study in this week's edition of New Scientist magazine.

The findings also confirm earlier research showing that the British are more likely than other nationalities to have 'stolen' other people's lovers.

A third of British men are in relationships with women they have taken from other long-term relationships, he found.

Among British women, 28 per cent have apparently poached their other halves rather than formed relationships with single men.