Individual attitudes to sex varyrnwidely, but so too do cultural ones.rnIn a survey of 48 countries, DavidrnSchmitt of Bradley University,rnIllinois, found one reason for this:rnthe higher the number of menrnrelative to women in a particularrnsociety, the less promiscuous thernculture was. So for instance, in eastrnAsian countries such as China,rnJapan and South Korea, where thernpopulation is heavily male biasedrnthere is a relatively low level ofrninterest in uncommitted, casualrnsex. Heanwhile, urban areas of thernUS with low ratios of men tornwomen, had a correspondinglyrnhigh level of short-termrnrelationships and divorce. This wasrnparticularly true, Schmitt says, ofrnareas that have been hit hardest byrnsome of the harshest drug laws andrngang violence, meaning that manyrnof the men were in prison or deadrn(wNew Scientist, 3 September, p 48)rn"If'good men' - attractive,rnfaithful, well-resourced,rngenerous - are few then there willrnbe very high competition betweenrnwomen to secure them as long-rnterm mates," says psychologistrnAnne Campbell from the Universityrnof Durham, UK. "This means menrncan call the shots, and what menrnusually want is casual sex."
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