(no subject)
Nov. 30th, 2005 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheCreativity linked to sexual success
Psychologists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Open University in Britain found that professional artists and poets have about twice as many partners as other people.
Their creativity seems to act like a sexual magnet.
But Dr Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at Newcastle University's School of Biology, said it is a double-edge sword.
"Poets and artists have more sexual partners but they also have high rates of depression," he told Reuters.
Nettle and his colleague Helen Clegg questioned 425 British men and women, including professional artists, poets and schizophrenic patients, about their creative activity, sexual encounters and mental health characteristics.
Although creative people have long been associated with active sex lives, the researchers believe their study is the first to back it up with research.
They found that professional artists and poets had between 4 and 10 sexual partners, while less creative people had an average of three.
"We found it in both the men and women which was quite a surprise to us," said Nettle, who reported the finding in the journal The Proceedings of the Royal Society (B).
The study also showed that the average number of sexual partners increased as creative output went up. What the artists produce draws attention to them, which seems to enhance their sexual allure.
"It could be that very creative types lead a bohemian lifestyle and tend to act more on sexual impulses and opportunities, often purely for experience's sake, than the average person would," said Nettle.
The active sex lives of artists is often tolerated, even by long-term partners who are less likely to expect loyalty and fidelity from them, according to the researchers.
Psychologists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Open University in Britain found that professional artists and poets have about twice as many partners as other people.
Their creativity seems to act like a sexual magnet.
But Dr Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at Newcastle University's School of Biology, said it is a double-edge sword.
"Poets and artists have more sexual partners but they also have high rates of depression," he told Reuters.
Nettle and his colleague Helen Clegg questioned 425 British men and women, including professional artists, poets and schizophrenic patients, about their creative activity, sexual encounters and mental health characteristics.
Although creative people have long been associated with active sex lives, the researchers believe their study is the first to back it up with research.
They found that professional artists and poets had between 4 and 10 sexual partners, while less creative people had an average of three.
"We found it in both the men and women which was quite a surprise to us," said Nettle, who reported the finding in the journal The Proceedings of the Royal Society (B).
The study also showed that the average number of sexual partners increased as creative output went up. What the artists produce draws attention to them, which seems to enhance their sexual allure.
"It could be that very creative types lead a bohemian lifestyle and tend to act more on sexual impulses and opportunities, often purely for experience's sake, than the average person would," said Nettle.
The active sex lives of artists is often tolerated, even by long-term partners who are less likely to expect loyalty and fidelity from them, according to the researchers.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-30 03:06 pm (UTC)And if that is part of this, bipolar disorder brings with it depression at least part of the time, and one of the behavioral characteristics is increased sexual behaviors (including but not limited to serious "flirtation" and acting sexual in possibly inappropriate arenas, sexual promiscuity, etc.).
If these researchers didn't factor in for this and use a control variable, then the correlation may be spurrious.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-30 03:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-30 04:04 pm (UTC)Also, clearly I need to start writing poetry again.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-30 09:01 pm (UTC)