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When I was brainstorming for this week's blog and thought of researching the correlation between the Holiday season and society's levels of sex drive, I didn't think I'd find much. To my surprise (and good luck), I was way wrong. Turns out, plenty of research has been done, including one published on Science Repots that states,
"Our results provide converging evidence that the cyclic sexual and reproductive behavior of human populations is mostly driven by culture and that this interest in sex is associated with specific emotions, characteristic of major cultural and religious celebrations" -Ian B. Wood et al.
It turns out, Holiday sex is a thing! And I'm not referring to the New Year's Eve drunken hookup, or the "snow-globe" (a new term I learned this season) fling -- although these definitely contribute to the numbers. No, what I am referring to is the statistically backed research that found an increase in sex drive regardless of the holiday during this time of year. Whether it is Christianity's Christmas or Islam's, "Eid-al-Fitr [or] second peak ... of Eid-al-Adha," (Wood et al.) these findings suggest that a holiday season seems to cause a surge in intimacy and especially reproduction, which is supported by data obtained from births at nine months post holiday seasons. The findings also concluded that the cold weather is not necessarily responsible for the urge to "warm up" because the test was also conducted in South American countries where the seasons are opposite of the northern hemisphere. Their Christmas is in mid summer while winter solstice is in July, and no increase in births was noted for the month of January (which would be about nine months post winter).
So whether it's the spiked hot chocolate up north, or the [cold] hard apple cider down south, the holidays truly do unleash magic on the world. If you're in the northern hemisphere and have found yourself in the mood more often lately, especially with the endless marathons of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies, know that you're not alone!
I also do need to point out that the opposite has been reported as well. According to a recent article by InStyle, decrease in sexual desire has also been noted in those that experience the holidays during the winter months.
"I think it really depends on who you are, what you're doing for the holidays, what your stressors are and how you react to stress. Some people stress out and want to be left alone, others are like, hurry up and give me an orgasm so I can feel better...people who spend the holidays with family and have less privacy, as well as financial strain or straight-up seasonal depression, as totally valid and extremely un-horny circumstances" -Vanessa Morin
Science has an explanation for both. While statistics and research explain why you might be feeling extra hot in this 32 degree weather, biology and psychology explain why others might be feeling less sexy. Regardless of who you are, know that you are not alone and there are plenty of options for you to move in either direction on the spectrum. Keep an eye out for our guide on how to keep things hot (or cold) this holiday season 😉
Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo