Reasearchers at the University of Texas at Austin asked almost 2,000 people for their motivations for engaging in sexual intercourse -- and they've compiled the top 237 responses in a new study in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. It's being billed as "the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled." Besides basically just being horny, many of the top reasons are surprising, and sometimes hilarious. The New York Times reports:

Who knew, for instance, that a headache had any erotic significance except as an excuse for saying no? But some respondents of both sexes explained that they’d had sex “to get rid of a headache.” It’s No. 173 on the list.

Others said they did it to “help me fall asleep,” “make my partner feel powerful,” “burn calories,” “return a favor,” “keep warm,” “hurt an enemy” or “change the topic of conversation.” The lamest may have been, “It seemed like good exercise,” although there is also this: “Someone dared me.”

Dr. Buss has studied mating strategies around the world — he’s the oft-cited author of “The Evolution of Desire” and other books — but even he did not expect to find such varied and Machiavellian reasons for sex. “I was truly astonished,” he said, “by this richness of sexual psychology.”

The study also found that men are much more likely than women to admit to having sex for personal gain. Also, hilariously, men view “the person demanded that I have sex” as good enough reason as any. Last time someone tried that one on us, we...oh, wait. Never mind.

(Source - registration req'd)

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