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| PMID |
|
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| TITLE |
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| Life without sex: Large-scale study links sexlessness to physical, cognitive, and personality traits, socioecological factors, and DNA. |
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| ABSTRACT |
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| Romantic (typically sexual) relationships are important to personal, physical, mental, social, and economic well-being, and to human evolution. Yet little is known about factors contributing to long-term lack of intimate relationships. We investigated phenotypic and genetic correlates of never having had sex in ~400,000 UK residents aged 39 to 73 and ~13,500 Australian residents aged 18 to 89. The strongest associations revealed that sexless individuals were more educated, less likely to use alcohol and smoke, more nervous, lonelier, and unhappier. Sexlessness was more strongly associated with physical characteristics (e.g., upper body strength) in men than in women. Sexless men tended to live in regions with fewer women, and sexlessness was more prevalent in regions with more income inequality. Common genetic variants explained 17% (SE = 4%) and 14% (SE = 3%) of variation in sexlessness in men and women, with a genetic correlation between sexes of 0.56 (SE = 0.17). Polygenic scores predicted a range of related outcomes in the Australian dataset. Our findings uncover multifaceted correlates of human intimacy and raise important lines of enquiry in the evolutionary and social sciences. |
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| DATE PUBLISHED |
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| HISTORY |
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| PUBSTATUS |
PUBSTATUSDATE |
| medline |
2025/09/17 00:30 |
| pubmed |
2025/09/16 18:31 |
| entrez |
2025/09/16 14:03 |
| pmc-release |
2025/09/16 |
|
| AUTHORS |
|
| NAME |
COLLECTIVENAME |
LASTNAME |
FORENAME |
INITIALS |
AFFILIATION |
AFFILIATIONINFO |
| Abdellaoui A |
|
Abdellaoui |
Abdel |
A |
|
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands. |
| Wesseldijk LW |
|
Wesseldijk |
Laura W |
LW |
|
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC 3010, Australia. |
| Gordon SD |
|
Gordon |
Scott D |
SD |
|
Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia. |
| Pasman JA |
|
Pasman |
Joëlle A |
JA |
|
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna Stockholm 171 65, Sweden. |
| Smit DJA |
|
Smit |
Dirk J A |
DJA |
|
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands. |
| Androvičová R |
|
Androvičová |
Renáta |
R |
|
Center for Sexual Health and Interventions, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany 250 67, Czechia. |
| Martin NG |
|
Martin |
Nicholas G |
NG |
|
Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia. |
| Ullén F |
|
Ullén |
Fredrik |
F |
|
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna Stockholm 171 77, Sweden. |
| Mosing MA |
|
Mosing |
Miriam A |
MA |
|
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna Stockholm 171 65, Sweden. |
| Zietsch BP |
|
Zietsch |
Brendan P |
BP |
|
Centre for Psychology and Evolution, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia. |
| Verweij KJH |
|
Verweij |
Karin J H |
KJH |
|
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands. |
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| INVESTIGATORS |
|
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| JOURNAL |
|
| VOLUME: 122 |
| ISSUE: 38 |
| TITLE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| ISOABBREVIATION: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
| YEAR: 2025 |
| MONTH: Sep |
| DAY: 23 |
| MEDLINEDATE: |
| SEASON: |
| CITEDMEDIUM: Internet |
| ISSN: 1091-6490 |
| ISSNTYPE: Electronic |
|
| MEDLINE JOURNAL |
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| MEDLINETA: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
| COUNTRY: United States |
| ISSNLINKING: 0027-8424 |
| NLMUNIQUEID: 7505876 |
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| PUBLICATION TYPE |
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| PUBLICATIONTYPE TEXT |
| Journal Article |
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| COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS |
|
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| GRANTS |
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| GRANTID |
AGENCY |
COUNTRY |
| N/A |
The Amsterdam UMC Fellowship |
|
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| GENERAL NOTE |
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| KEYWORDS |
|
| KEYWORD |
| evolution |
| genetics |
| sexlessness |
| socioecology |
|
| MESH HEADINGS |
|
| DESCRIPTORNAME |
QUALIFIERNAME |
| Humans |
|
| Male |
|
| Female |
|
| Adult |
|
| Middle Aged |
|
| Aged |
|
| Personality |
genetics |
| Australia |
genetics |
| Sexual Behavior |
genetics |
| Cognition |
physiology |
| Adolescent |
physiology |
| Aged, 80 and over |
physiology |
| Young Adult |
physiology |
| DNA |
genetics |
| United Kingdom |
genetics |
|
| SUPPLEMENTARY MESH |
|
|
| GENE SYMBOLS |
|
|
| CHEMICALS |
|
| REGISTRYNUMBER |
NAMEOFSUBSTANCE |
| 9007-49-2 |
DNA |
|
| OTHER ID's |
|
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|
