How Your Political Views Influence Your Sex Position Preferences (Yes, Really)

Given how much political values can reveal about people (I'm looking at you, relatives on Facebook), it's not hard to imagine that they can also sometimes be relationship deal-breakers. But what you probably didn't know is that political leanings can also possibly reveal something about your sex life. According to findings from a study published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal on Wednesday, whom you're voting for might also have a correlation with your sex position preferences. The study, conducted by Brown University, Penn State, and the University of Michigan, collected data from 1,074 participants through an online survey. Participants were asked to answer questions that assessed their political orientations, as well as the adventurousness of their sexual behaviors and their overall satisfaction with their sex lives. (For example, "risky" sexual behaviors were assessed by asking questions such as, "have you had sex with a stranger while intoxicated or high?" and "have you had sex without birth control even though you weren't intending on getting pregnant?") Turns out, those who considered themselves conservatives were more likely to favor "traditional" sex behaviors, such as the missionary position, while liberals tended to prefer "adventurous" and "risky" sexual behaviors (using sex toys and having sex with strangers, for instance). The study suggested that social conservatives also tended to be happy with just one or two sex positions in their sex lives, and were happy with fewer sexual partners. On the other hand, liberals were more adventurous and tried a wider variety of positions and different kinds of sex (oral sex, anal sex, and threesomes) with more partners. However, conservatives were, on the whole, more satisfied with their sex lives. That's not to say the relationship between political leanings and sexual preferences is at all straightforward — for instance, those who had more doggy-style sex tended to be conservative on some issues (they tended to be anti-immigration and pro-death penalty), but liberal on others (they supported gay rights and were pro-choice). Those who masturbated more were generally more liberal across the board — they self-reported as liberals and Democrats, and voted for Obama. Obviously, these findings don't mean that sexual preferences are based on whether you vote Democrat or Republican — or that every conservative only loves the missionary position. But if you're wondering just how much politics permeates your daily life, you might now be closer to the answer. And if you just needed to read something election-related that (hopefully) doesn't give you anxiety, we hope this accomplished that. (Oh, and liberals, if you're looking for more sex position inspiration, we've got you covered.)