When researchers examine sexual behaviors they tend to focus on who is most sexually promiscuous. For example, men and women with dominant personalities tend to sleep with more people than submissive individuals.1 But what about the equally interesting question: when are individuals most promiscuous? That is – is there a time of the year when people tend to be the horniest? Research using archival data (e.g., births records, condom sales, etc.) seems to suggest that sex and mating behaviors in the United States show a 6-month seasonal cycle. People seem most likely to have sex during the winter and summer.2,3
We wanted to tackle this research question a bit differently and a little more directly. We didn’t want to rely on information from archival birth records, which may not really capture when all people are thinking about sex (there is this thing called birth control). Similarly, condom sales might not accurately reflect when individuals actually utilize these purchases. Directly asking people when they are “in the mood” raises problems because people don’t always remember the days and the times when they were looking for some lovin’ (scientists refer to this as a “retrospective memory bias”). Another way to tap into people’s sexual desires at a specific period of time is by assessing changes in Internet keyword searches. By simply typing a few words into an Internet search engine (e.g., Google), individuals are able to obtain information on any topic of interest (like sex). For