Young men now prefer video games to casual sex

INCREASING numbers of men in their early 20s prefer playing video games to casual sex, a study has found.

It was on a par with young people’s growing distaste for drinking as an explanation as to why casual sex is in such decline among people in their 20s, according to the study of 2,000 men and women aged 20 to 24.

The researchers, from the State University of New York and Rutgers University, used regressive analysis to try to understand why today’s 20-year-olds are spurning casual sex.

According to studies, the proportion who say they have not had a nonromantic sexual encounter in the past year has risen from 11.7 per cent to 15.2 per cent. For men aged 18 to 24, it rose from 18.9 per cent to 30.9 per cent.

For women, the biggest factor explaining the decline in their casual sex lives was drinking, which accounted for a quarter of the drop. According to the researchers, no other factor stood out or was statistically significant.

For the men, however, key aspects of their lives appeared to be having an effect, the largest of which was drinking followed by gaming.

Ten per cent was accounted for by the fact that they were still living with their parents.