Table 3.

140-item YSEX? factor and subfactor score differences as a function of age

	Age group (years)
	18–22 (N = 94)		23–30 (N = 83)		31–45 (N = 80)
Factor	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Physical	2.17	0.44	2.20	0.51	2.41	0.58
Stress reduction*	1.71	0.52	1.76	0.52	1.97	0.65
Pleasure	3.43	0.65	3.48	0.72	3.51	0.77
Physical desirability*	1.98	0.65	1.93	0.59	2.22	0.79
Experience seeking‡	2.00	0.46	2.08	0.66	2.28	0.71
Goal attainment	1.13	0.18	1.14	0.15	1.22	0.28
Resources*	1.05	0.11	1.08	0.14	1.15	0.25
Social Status†	1.09	0.21	1.06	0.14	1.15	0.32
Revenge†	1.16	0.27	1.14	0.19	1.26	0.41
Utilitarian	1.27	0.34	1.30	0.34	1.36	0.39
Emotional	2.48	0.51	2.51	0.61	2.69	0.68
Love and commitment	2.86	0.64	2.81	0.75	3.00	0.72
Expression‡	1.84	0.53	1.99	0.62	2.16	0.76
Insecurity	1.51	0.47	1.48	0.45	1.67	0.45
Self-esteem boost*	1.56	0.58	1.59	0.60	1.88	0.60
Duty/pressure	1.53	0.48	1.49	0.54	1.58	0.53
Mate guarding‡	1.46	0.58	1.35	0.56	1.58	0.62

Mean scores for all items are based on a scale of 1–5, with higher scores reflecting increased proportions of engaging in sexual activity.

^*Women aged 31–45 were significantly different from both the 18–22 and 23–30 age groups at P < 0.05.

^†Women aged 31–45 were significantly different from women aged 23–30 at P < 0.05.

^‡Women aged 31–45 were significantly different from women aged 18–22 at P < 0.05.