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Why do humans prefer to mate in private?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that human beings generally prefer to mate in private—but why? And why is it so rare? Other than humans, only one other species has demonstrated a preference for privacy during mating: Arabian babblers. To learn more, [anthropologist Yitzchak] Ben Mocha retrieved data from 4,572 accounts of cultural studies—ethnographies—and studied them looking for what he describes as normal sexual practices. Those involved were not trying to shock or avoid punishment for engaging in taboo practices such as incest—and were also not in the pornography business. He found that virtually every known culture practices private mating—even in places where privacy is difficult to find. He also looked for examples of other animals mating in private, and found none, except for the babblers. He also found that there were no explanations for it, and in fact, there were very few other people wondering why humans have such a proclivity. And, not surprisingly, he was unable to find any evolutionary theories on the topic.
Journal Reference:
Yitzchak Ben Mocha. Why do human and non-human species conceal mating? The cooperation maintenance hypothesis, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1330)
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @06:06PM (1 child)
The primary reason people prefer to mate in prison is social pressure to do so, not a personal desire to.
Just going off myself the primary reasons in descending order are:
Public sex would get you labelled a sex offender/arrested, at least in the US.
Ridicule or critique of your appearance, sexual organs, or sexual abilities.
Others desiring to join in who you might not want to. (With STD/VD risk a strong parallel.)
I'm sure there are other reasons for some people, but most of the reasons for sex as a privacy affair are social, and as a result of the social pressures, personally psychological. People who are into or enjoy public sex for the most part take it to sex clubs, and those for whom sex clubs aren't enough may take the risk of exhibitionism out in public, something I don't recommend due to the legal consequences, but that appeals to a lot of people, particularly women (I have met far fewer guys who get sexual gratification from public sex, although many are more than willing to do it given the appeals of a partner.)
So as others have stated the whole hypothesis makes presumptions that just aren't grounded in reality.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @06:35PM
I don't think your first sentence is quite what you meant to say.
It's still true, though, in its own way.