The Sex Positions People Fear The Most

Physical intimacy can often be scary for couples, no matter how long they’ve been together. According to a new study by Superdrug Online Doctor, most couples are unfamiliar with—and a little afraid of—many aspects of intimacy.

Surveying over 1,000 men and women in both America and Europe (each of whom were in a relationship), the data reveals some surprising truths about our bedroom habits and preferences. 

Here are the poses people are kind of afraid to attempt, and the ones they’re more than comfortable recreating.

The most “scary” sexual acts

On a scale of 1 to 5, American and European men and women (four groups in total) were asked about various stressful sexual scenarios. 

Across the table, “Public sex” was listed as the sexual act that scared them the most, receiving a score of 3.2 from European respondents and 3.7 from American respondents. 

Overall, sexual acts such as bondage, S&M, and public sex were reported to be significantly more anxiety-inducing than exploring new sexual positions or incorporating sex toys into the bedroom. 

Crowd favorites

For male respondents, the top positions were found to be ‘Anal’, ‘Oral sex’, ‘Standing sex’ and ‘Standing 69’ a bold statement considering the latter requires significant upper body strength.  

For women, a different selection of sex positions topped the preferences, with ‘Missionary’, ‘Spooning’ and ‘Cowgirl’ coming out on top.

So which positions ranked highly among both men and women?

Three in particular were almost equally shared between the sexes in terms of position preference: “Upside Down Cowgirl” (51.6/48.4 percent), “Tabletop” (53/47 percent), and “Feet Up” (52/48 percent).

The most polarizing positions

Hyperbole aside, there are several key findings that represent some polarizing preferences between male and female respondents. 

For example, when asked what positions people were least comfortable attempting, 54.6 percent of women answered “anus,” while only 30.5 percent of men agreed.

Similarly, when looking at the percentage of preference for anal sex between men and women, the numbers came in at 87.9 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively – the most polarizing split. 

Similarly, 16.6 percent of women were uncomfortable with “Sex standing up,” while only 7 percent of men responded the same way. 

Who is the most sexually adventurous?

One in 10 respondents admitted that they had not tried a new sex position in the past six years, while more claimed that the quality of their sex life had not improved over time.

Although there was some variation in responses from European and American participants, all respondents generally agreed that they could improve the exploration of intimacy as a whole. 

When asked if they would be interested in incorporating sex toys into the bedroom, more women (58.9%) said yes than men (41.1%).

The data finally shows that nearly 9 percent of respondents don’t consider themselves “adventurous” in bed.

Regardless of experience, the data on each gender’s gender attitude preferences and willingness to explore sexual acts show an obvious appetite for sexual exploration.