New research finds people are being more sexually experimental during lockdown

• Insider got a first look at new research on sexual activity during lockdown.
• People are having less sex and masturbating less during lockdown, according to preliminary study findings from Kinsey Institute research fellow Justin Lehmiller.
• Lehmiller also found that 1 in 5 people are being more experimental when they do have sex, sending nudes, trying new positions, and telling their partners about their fantasies.
• If you're having less sex, Lehmiller said it's normal because times of stress tend to decrease sex drive.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

When stay-at-home orders were issued across the US in March, there were jokes that people would while away the time by having sex or masturbating.

New research from Justin Lehmiller, a research fellow at The Kinsey Institute and author of "Tell Me What You Want," suggests that's not quite the case.

According to his survey of an estimated 2,000 people, most are actually less intimate during lockdown. But when they do have sex, they tend to be more experimental, trying out new positions and exploring fantasies.

The preliminary findings are part of Lehmiller's ongoing study, asking people, both single and partnered, about their sexual behavior every two weeks since mid-March, when all the lockdowns began in the US.

Lehmiller has submitted the study to the journal Leisure Sciences and it's slated to be published next month. In the meantime, he shared a first look at his preliminary findings with Insider.

People are having less sex

So far, it appears that spending more time at home hasn't pushed couples to have more sex.

Lehmiller said the majority of participants have also reported having less sex than before the pandemic, though he didn't have a specific number to cite.

"Despite everything we've heard in the media about people being hornier and really interested in sex right now, we're seeing that rates of sexual behavior are lower, and that includes masturbation," Lehmiller told Insider.

Some people also reported the quality of their sex lives has taken a dive.

Just 13.6% said their sex lives are better than before. Some 43.5% of the study participants said their sex lives have been of lower quality than before the pandemic, while 42.8% said their sex lives are about the same in terms of quality.

1 in 5 people have become more experimental with sex

Although people are having less sex overall, Lehmiller said it was interesting to find that people who are having sex are trying new things.

He said 1 in 5 of the study participants tried a new sexual behavior since the pandemic started, and the most common were sexting for the first time, sharing a sexual fantasy with a partner, and or trying a new sex position.

"Different people are coping in different ways, and for some people this is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation and some people are going to see improvements," in their sex lives because of it, Lehmiller said.

He said his team will continue to follow this finding and see if as the pandemic continues, more people experiment as a way to improve their sex lives.

If you're having less sex, it's completely normal

If you're someone who, like most of the participants in Lehmiller's study, is having less frequent or lower-quality sex than before the coronavirus pandemic, Lehmiller said it isn't cause for concern.

"It's normal over the lifespan for people to have fluctuations in their sex drive and for sex drive to go down during periods of high stress and anxiety. So the fact that this is happening now is not surprising," he said.

Lehmiller said existing data shows that when a person experiences high-stress situations like the birth of a child, a divorce, or job loss, sexual desire tends to decrease. The exception is people who use sex as a coping tool, Lehmiller said, which would mean their sexual frequency may increase during times of stress.

"But these are usually temporary blips on the radar such that when the stressor is relieved, sexual desire tends to come back. So we would expect to see that once life starts to return to normal, whatever 'normal' means, we're likely to see sexual desire come back in a lot of these cases," Lehmiller said.

If, however, your sexual desire is still low when the pandemic is over, Lehmiller suggested seeking help from a therapist or sexual health doctor.

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