Women are more likely to regret one-night stands than men, according to a new study – and it’s because they’re usually left unsatisfied by the encounter.
An international online survey asked 1,075 participants, including some from Great Britain, to evaluate their one-night stand experiences.
Analysis revealed three-quarters had drunk alcohol before their brief dalliance, while half said they met their one-night stand partner on that same day.
While levels of overall regret were generally low, women tended to report stronger regret than men.
Further investigations revealed the main factor influencing feelings of regret was sexual satisfaction – specifically whether the participant experienced an orgasm during the hookup.
Other factors that contributed to higher levels of regret in women were intoxication and worrying about their reputation.
‘Decisions about sexual experiences are among the most common causes of regret in humans,’ the team, from the University of Innsbruck, wrote in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
‘Women showed systematically higher regret than men across the entire distribution of heterosexual one-night stand experiences.’
The researchers found a little bit of alcohol didn’t cause much regret, but getting very drunk caused a huge spike in regret for both men and women
In their study the researchers explained that one-night stands are different to ‘booty calls’ or ‘friends with benefits’ because – although all have no expectations of commitment – it specifically refers to a single sexual encounter.
Some 20 per cent of the participants – who had an average age of 25 – reported having 10 or more one-night stands in their lives.
The researchers revealed that, contrary to popular belief, most participants evaluated their experiences as neutrally or positively.
Nearly half reported no regret at all.
Among those who did, women tended to report stronger levels – but only during heterosexual encounters.
The scientists found no gender differences in regret when the one-night stand was with a same-sex partner.
This suggests that the higher regret experienced by women is driven by the specific dynamics of sleeping with a man, the team said.
These women reported much lower rates of satisfaction and orgasm compared to those who slept with other women – leading to higher levels of regret.
Most one-night stand participants were single, but some were still in a relationship or were about to break up
‘Sexual satisfaction emerged as the strongest mediator, with orgasm achievement playing the critical role,’ the researchers wrote.
They explained that traditional sexual scripts ‘systematically prioritise male pleasure’.
‘The gender difference in regret after heterosexual one-night stands was fully explained by…sexual satisfaction, heteronomy (feeling pressured), intoxication and reputational concern,’ they added.
The team also discovered the context of the one-night stand influenced levels of regret.
When one-night stands happened after a date, people felt less regret than when they happened after a party.
The study also revealed that feelings of regret tended to intensify over time.
This could because any immediate physical gratification such as pleasure and excitement may fade more quickly from memory compared to negative aspects such as moral concerns, the researchers said.
‘As individuals mature and potentially enter committed relationships, their values regarding casual sex might shift to the negative,’ they added.
‘The statistically significant gender difference in regret was moderate in size, and…analysis revealed that about 70 per cent of women’s most recent heterosexual one-night stand experiences resulted in higher regret than men’s average experiences,’ they concluded.
The researchers suggest that enhancing the quality of sexual experiences through improved communication and increased focus on mutual satisfaction ‘offers the most promising path toward reducing negative outcomes’.
A separate study, published last week, found that women in romantic relationships are actually more sexually satisfied than men.
The team, from Sweet Briar College in Virginia , analysed data collected on more than 10,000 people across dozens of previous studies.
They found that contrary to common assumptions, women report higher levels of enjoyment in the bedroom compared to their partners.
And it could be because men get bored between the sheets over time, the researchers said.
