Women of Near 40 Have Higher Sex Drives

AFP . Role model Eva Longoria, star of Desperate Housewives, is married to Tony Parker - a man seven years her junior

KOMPAS.com - Their faces are no longer wrinkle-free and their tummies are not as toned as they once were, but the best days of their lives lie ahead - in one way, at least. Women in their thirties and early forties have higher sex drives than their younger and perkier counterparts.

They are friskier and have more fantasies and flings, despite being past their physical prime, a study found. The researchers say that women of a certain age are more likely to be aware that their biological clocks are ticking and so are trying to make up for lost time.

The phenomenon could explain the rise of the 'cougar' - women with a penchant for toyboys. Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria, for example, is married to basketball player Tony Parker, who at 28 is seven years her junior.

A seven-year age difference also separates Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, while Kylie Minogue is ten years older than her beau Andres Velencoso, 32.

The psychologists behind the study surveyed almost 900 women about their attitudes to sex, including how often they fantasised and how likely they were to have a fling with a relative stranger.

The women were divided into three groups; those aged 19 to 26, considered to be at the peak of their fertility; those aged 27 to 45, whose ability to have a baby was on the wane; and women close to or at the menopause. The group aged 27 to 45 clearly had the best sex lives, the journal Personality And Individual Differences reports.

They thought about sex more, had sex more often than the younger and older women, and were more open to flings. The researchers at the University of Texas at Austin say the findings suggest a woman's libido picks up as her biological clock speeds up.

Professor David Buss said: 'Results indicate women with declining fertility have greater sexual motivations and increased sexual behaviours than do women with relatively high fertility.

'These findings lend further support to the influence of the biological clock on women's mating psychology to facilitate conception before the window of opportunity closes.'

Dr Pam Spurr, a sex and behaviour expert, said: 'I often find it is women in their late thirties who seem to be having a lot of fun. There might be a subconscious level to this but also a conscious one - women are more informed about fertility levels falling after a certain age.'

She added that 'cougars' may also be more experienced in the bedroom and have lost the inhibitions of their youth. Allan Pacey, a Sheffield University IVF expert, said that women aged 27 to 45 may simply be doing what comes naturally.

He said: 'Perhaps all that these researchers are measuring is the primeval woman. Society has massaged it and hundreds of millions of years of evolution have refined it, but in their subconscious, fertile women still have some basic instincts.'

In a piece of advice that will delight cougars and toyboys alike, Dr Pacey advised women to set their sights on younger partners.

'If you want a healthy baby, a younger man is preferable. An older man might be better able to care for the child and have more financial resources but from a health point of view, go for a younger man every time.'