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The age at which you lose your virginity is more than just something to debate and joke about among friends. It may actually have some bearing on the quality of your love life and how long your relationships last.
The study
Does when you lose your virginity matter? A recent study says that it does. Published in the journal Psychological Science, the study investigated 1,659 same-sex sibling pairs between the ages of 16 to 29 to get a sense of whether or not it matters when you first have sex.
What difference does timing make?
By recording when these pairs of siblings in the study lost their virginity, the team of researchers from the University of Texas (led by scientist Paige Harden), attempted to find whether the timing of one’s first sexual experience had any effect on other areas of life. The research team found that people who lose their virginity later than their teenage years are more likely to enjoy satisfying relationships later in life.
What does it mean?
It’s not surprising that the age of your first sexual experience would play a role in various areas later in life. After all, who doesn’t think back to that first time and either shudder, laugh or pretend it never happened. The younger you are when you lose your virginity, the less knowledgeable you are about sex and the less likely it is that the experience will be a wholly positive one. Whereas, when you’re older, you’re more confident and better at knowing what you want, making a later first sexual encounter that much more satisfying.
Other factors to note
The study also found that people who waited to have sex until at least the age of 20 were more likely to have had a university education and work in a well-paying job. They were also likely to have fewer sexual partners later in life, but less likely to be married.