Last month, we were in Denver, Colorado for the twelfth annual SPSP Sexuality Preconference. We were fortunate to have Sexual Health Alliance (based in Denver!) as our headline sponsor for this event, and even more fortunate to have sex researchers from all over the world join us. Our day was filled with tons of sex... The post What I Learned at SPSP’s Sexuality Preconference This Year appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

Sex dolls have rapidly evolved over the past couple of decades, with technology enabling more lifelike and realistic designs. Although it remains unclear how many people actually own a sex doll (to our knowledge, no one has asked about this on representative sex surveys), it appears that ownership is steadily increasing and becoming more mainstream.... The post The “Perfect Partner”: Men’s Experiences With Sex Dolls appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

There is contentious debate about whether it’s okay for straight people to make gay bars into their regular hangouts. We’re not going to wade into that debate in this post, but we are going to pose the question of why so many straight people go to gay bars in the first place. What draws them... The post Why Do Straight Women Go To Gay Bars? appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

Historically, Valentine’s Day was an annual feast celebrated on February 14th that was associated with love and romance. While the exact origins of this holiday are controversial and disputed, Valentine’s Day retains a lot of those historical connotations to this day. Of course, while some folks outright reject the holiday and choose not to participate,... The post What Are People’s Perceptions of Valentine’s Day? appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

Despite how long sex work has existed (after all, some refer to it as “the oldest profession in the world”), it is still heavily stigmatized. While sex worker stigma isn’t anything new, sex work itself has evolved and changed in myriad ways. A new edited collection titled Sex Work Today: Erotic Labor in the Twenty-First... The post New Sex Book Alert: Sex Work Today appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

In recent years, the use of sex toys in America has gone from a highly taboo topic to one that is increasingly mainstream. More and more people are discovering how toys can enhance their physical and emotional well-being, offering benefits that extend beyond pure sexual pleasure. From improving passion and intimacy to boosting sexual satisfaction... The post How Sex Toys Are Revolutionizing Our Sex Lives appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

Every year, we publish an updated state of sexual education in the United States based on data from the Guttmacher Institute. Because each state has its own requirements (or lack thereof) about what a sexual education curriculum should cover, we’ll highlight some of the key points to note about where things stand at the start... The post The State of Sex Education in the USA in 2025 appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

Goodbye, 2024! We hope that you all enjoyed the holiday season and have some things to look forward to in the year ahead. 2024 was a year of significant change. From the ongoing evolution of artificial intelligence to global shifts in our social and political landscapes, we’ve seen how technology and culture continue to shape... The post The Year in Sex: The 10 Most-Read Articles on Sex and Psychology in 2024 appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

A genre of romance novels that appears to be growing in popularity is “sentient object romance.” We wanted to explore it here on Sex and Psychology, so we spoke with author Chuck Tingle, who has published hundreds of novels on the topic. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the sentient object romance genre,... The post What Is Sentient Object Romance? appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more

The first Sunday following New Year’s Day is the busiest of the year for dating apps. It has been dubbed “Dating Sunday” and it’s the pinnacle of Cuffing Season. People who are looking to start meaningful relationships at this time of year might be thinking about whether it’s time to change their dating approach. One... The post Does Playing Hard-To-Get Pay Off? appeared first on Sex and Psychology ..read more