Lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to orgasm during sexual intimacy than their straight counterparts, a new study has found.
Researchers from Chapman University, Indiana University and the Kinsey Institute say that while it’s well known there is a notable gap between heterosexual men and women in the frequency of orgasms during sex, very little is known about sexual orientation differences.
"There's been a lot of research on orgasm frequency, but there isn't very much data that includes how both gender and sexual orientation relate to orgasm frequency," lead author David A. Frederick, assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University, told the Chicago Tribune.
The study examined the sexual behaviour of more than 52,000 Americans and found that 86 per cent of lesbian women said that they usually-to-always orgasm when they’re sexually intimate.
This number dropped for bisexual women (66 per cent) and straight women (65 per cent).
Heterosexual men were the most likely group to orgasm (95 per cent) followed by gay men (89 per cent) and bisexual men (88 per cent).
The researchers concluded that the ‘orgasm gap’ between lesbian and straight women was due to the fact that lesbian women were more likely to have an understanding of female anatomy and clitoral stimulation but that "the fact that lesbian women orgasmed more often than heterosexual women indicates that many heterosexual women could experience higher rates of orgasms."
The study also concluded that strongest predictor of how frequently women orgasm was whether they received oral sex with the second strongest indicator being how long sex lasted.
Participants who said they asked their partner for what they wanted in bed were also more likely to be sexually satisfied.
