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Now you know.
By Shannon Ullman — Written on Oct 18, 2021
Is your sex number for one-night stands considered "normal"? How does your current guy measure up on the one-nighter scale? Is he a total sex lush that you should be concerned about, or is he on par with the rest of the male population?
DrEd.com took the liberty of finding out exactly what the real deal is with one-night stands. They polled 500 Americans and 500 Europeans to see what they thought about this sexual encounter.
So, what is the average number of one-night stands that men and women have?
For Europeans, the average is 4 one-night stands for women and 6 for men; with Americans, the average is 7 one-night stands for men and 6 for women.
They also asked questions about how women and men felt afterward, whether or not they judge others for having one-nighters, and where people go to find the possibility of a one-night stand:
For Europeans, the majority of men and women went to clubs to find one-night stands.
For women, 47 percent tried to take someone home from the club while only 41 percent of men tried the same. Less than 30 percent of men and women from Europe looked for one-night stands in a bar.
For American men and women, the majority preferred to find one-night stands in a bar.
More than 40 percent of them said that the bar was the best place to find people looking to hook up. However, only 25 percent of women and 20 percent of men would try to find a date from someone in the bar.
When it comes to the workplace, no American men said that they would look for someone at work for a one-night stand.
However, four percent of European men said that they would find a one-nighter candidate at work.
While Europeans often seem more sexually liberated than Americans, the study shows that American people have more one-night stands on average than Europeans do.
On average, American males had about seven one-night stands, while the women had only six. In Europe, men had around six one-night stands while women had four.
In both Europe and America, men were more likely to be satisfied with a one-night stand, more so than the women.
More than 38 percent of men in Europe and 32 percent of American men were happy and satisfied after a one-nighter. For women, only 18 percent of Americans and 16 percent of Europeans were satisfied.
While more than half of the people surveyed have had one-night stands, people only shared that info with two or fewer others.
No American women said that they would be willing to tell "anyone who would listen," while two percent of European women said that they would.
Less than one percent of American men said that they would tell "anyone who would listen," while four percent of European men said that they would.
However, regardless of country and gender, the majority of people said that they would tell one or two friends who were close to them.
For European men, 49 percent of them would tell a few close friends, while 48 of European women would do the same. For American women, 54 percent would tell a few close friends while 58 percent of men would do the same.
However, 39 percent of European men would tell no one, 45 percent of European women would tell no one, 42 percent of American women would keep their mouths shut, and 34 percent of American men wouldn’t tell anyone either.
While both genders seem to be judged for this sexual encounter, women are typically judged far more harshly.
A mere nine percent of men said that they congratulated their female friends for having a one-night stand. While 20 percent of men have congratulated their guy friends.
But around eight percent of women were proud of their girlfriends, and more than six percent of women congratulated their guy friends.
Men were more likely to feel neutral about the whole thing, with 41 percent of them not really caring either way. And women were more likely to quietly disapprove whether their friend was male or female. Men were half as likely to quietly disapprove as women.
Even people who have had one-night stands were likely to judge others for doing the same. Over 25 percent of European women and 17 percent of men said that they would judge someone else, regardless of if they had had one themselves. For American women, 21 percent said that they would judge someone for having a one-night stand, with 14 percent of American men agreeing.
Overall, people who have never had a one-night stand were the most judgmental.
After a one-night stand, Americans were more likely than Europeans to just never talk to that person again. For Americans, 43 percent of them never talked to their partner again, with only 29 percent of Europeans doing the same.
So, if you were ashamed of your past one-night stands before, the results of this survey should help you ease the pain. Tons of people are doing it, and either way, they’re going to judge you. Just do your thing!
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Shannon Ullman is an editor for YourTango who focuses on writing about lifestyle and relationships.