Several of you beloved readers/listeners have tipped me to the latest findings from OkCupid: a series of awesome charts that demonstrate a variety of fascinating correlations between lifestyle, age, appearance and sexuality that uses the millions and millions of OKCupid’s dating site members as subjects. And a couple people asked for explanations for a few of the trends that the fellas in the OkTrends lab discovered. So I picked out the ones that might yield the best stories.
A few opening caveats: while I actually am quite trusting of the veracity of these findings and the work of the OkTrends lab, any research conducted on a convenience sampling (no matter how big and diverse) is going to have some snags. That is: this is a dating site, even if lots of people just use it to blog or take quizzes, or are already in relationships or whatever. That means results from their findings are not necessarily applicable to the entire population.
Here’s a perfect example:

The pithy commentator who wrote up the OkTrends blog made a crack about having to be wary of old dudes now, which may be good advice anyhow. But this is a reminder that even in 2011, most dudes in their 60s are not surfing dating sites. A specific sub-set of them are though: single/divorced/widowed/swinging/cheating ones. And if a dude is motivated to go on a dating website populated largely by people in their 20s and 30s (who also don’t have enough money to pay for a dating site) then they might not be all that representative of old dudes.
And another important reminder from Research Methods 101: correlation does not imply causality. That is: just because one thing occurs alongside another does not mean they caused each other. The classic example is: ice cream and street crime. Generally, as ice cream sales peak in the year, so does street crime. But it would be ludicrous to assume one caused the other. There are external variables, like the temperature and school being out, that are completely invisible.
One reader asked for my explanation of this finding that vegetarians enjoy giving head better than omnivores:

My first instinct on this one is that vegetarianism is associated with general openness to new ideas, liberal social views and conscientiousness about the more global impact of events and behaviors. Especially in America, you don’t give up one of the most convenient segments in the food pyramid for no reason. There’s usually a reason: health, political or ethical. And perhaps that makes someone more open to reconsidering other things, like sexual taboos and gender norms (cause there is still that segment of troglodyte dudes who don’t go down). And maybe, since they’re more concerned with animals and the planet, they’re just more sensitive and considerate of their partners.
But a couple readers also pointed out that it may have to do with the fact vegetarians and vegans TASTE better. It’s a well-documented fact that diet influences the taste of vaginal secretions and semen.
Another trend the site discovered was that money had a lot to do with looking for casual sex. Students who went to more expensive schools were more likely to respond that they sought commitment-free sex. And when the Gross Domestic Product of the country was the variable, the results were even more obvious:

And as much as I love ascribing hedonistic characteristics to those with money, there is more to this picture than that. Yes, having a lot of money gives you entitlement to do what you want and to follow your pleasures. Yes, it also enables you obtain more things that reel in potential partners. This is not to be forgotten. However, the wealthiest parts of the world right now are also similar in other ways. Religiosity might be a factor not apparent on this chart, for instance. The western world is increasingly less concerned with religious taboos against casual sex and that might influence both the desire for casual sex and the willingness to admit to wanting it.
And further, if you look to the lowest levels of interest in casual sex, you see not only the poorest countries but also the ones most devastated by AIDS. Perhaps the people of Ghana have another reason not to hook up with strangers.
As always, thanks for all the recommended reads! And a reminder to make sure we stop and think critically before accepting any finding, no matter how rigorously scientific. Questions? Comments? Violent reactions? Email sexwithtimaree@gmail.com See more at http://sexwithtimaree.com