Life Without Sex: Study Examines Individuals' Characteristics

> We investigated phenotypic and genetic correlates of never having had sex in ~400,000 UK residents aged 39 to 73 and ~13,500 Australian residents aged 18 to 89. The strongest associations revealed that sexless individuals were more educated, less likely to use alcohol and smoke, more nervous, lonelier, and unhappier. Sexlessness was more strongly associated with physical characteristics (e.g., upper body strength) in men than in women. Sexless men tended to live in regions with fewer women, and sexlessness was more prevalent in regions with more income inequality. Common genetic variants explained 17% (SE = 4%) and 14% (SE = 3%) of variation in sexlessness in men and women, with a genetic correlation between sexes of 0.56 (SE = 0.17). Polygenic scores predicted a range of related outcomes in the Australian dataset.