# Yet another sex thread: Can an individual's sex drive be scientifically quantified? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861 "2007-04-05T15:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/1 "2007-04-05T15:22:40Z")
I posed this question in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413141) thread but nobody bit. In Robert Heinlein’s novel _Friday,_ there is a scene where Friday Jones, being out of work, is looking through the want ads. One is from a gentleman advertising for a mistress/companion. One requirement is that her “amativeness quotient” be above a certain figure. Have psychologists ever devised a reliable numerical measurement of the level/intensity of an individual’s sex drive? Will they ever? For that matter, is there any scientific evidence that sex drive is, like IQ, a characteristic variable among individuals but stable for each individual over time? ---
**Author:** ![happywaffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee59a6/32.png) [@happywaffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happywaffle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/2 "2007-04-05T20:32:48Z")
Boy, I can sure tell you my wife’s amativeness quotient! \ ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/3 "2007-04-06T00:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=happywaffle] Boy, I can sure tell you my wife’s amativeness quotient! \ [/QUOTE] Dude, we can ALL tell your wife’s amativeness quotient… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/4 "2007-04-06T00:51:00Z")
[QUOTE=Shalmanese] Dude, we can ALL tell your wife’s amativeness quotient… [/QUOTE] I have the graphs over the years if anybody wants me to post them somewhere. I am missing a month but my buddy claims that he has records from that time as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/5 "2007-04-06T01:08:04Z")
Reliable is the hardest word to pin down in your question. The possible means of measurement are completely subjective and are of course prey to inaccuracy and inconsistency. You could measure hormone levels, frequency of sexual activity, orgasm and arousal, or a host of other things related to sex but there’s really no easy answer. It’s all too subjective - e.g. How would thinking about sex compare on the scale to hormone levels, masturbation or actually having sex? It depends on a lot of ideas developed by society, so in the end it’s like trying to make a scientific version of a purity test. Everyone’s going to think their score is off. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/6 "2007-04-06T03:33:25Z")
You could measure frequency of arousal. However, the instruments that they currently use are obtrusive so the patient would constantly remember that he or she was being monitored and they don’t have portable devices for reading the data. Also, some argue that the data on men (where penis thickness is measured) is unreliable because some men hardened in fear or in other non-sexual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/7 "2007-04-07T18:12:01Z")
WooHoo! I’m measuring my arousal like a motherfuck! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sex-thread-can-an-individuals-sex-drive-be-scientifically-quantified/398861/8 "2007-04-07T18:31:32Z")
mine goes to 11.