Couple Watching the Sunset
IN PHOTO: A couple watch the sun setting on a beach near Holyhead in Anglesey, north Wales May 1, 2011. Britain's Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is stationed as a helicopter pilot on Anglesey and will return to work this week following his marriage to Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, on April 29. Reuters/Toby Melville

Times have changed - the fashion sense, taste in music and perspective on sex differ for baby boomers and millennials. However, a new U.S. study finds that baby boomers actually had more sex compared to their children.

Researchers from San Diego State University studied data taken from the General Social Survey to find out how participants view premarital sex and how many sex partners they have had. Of the 33,000 U.S. participants from 1972 to 2012, researchers found significant differences on the number of partners for each generation and how they feel about same-sex relationship and premarital sex.

According to the university's press release, lead researcher Jean Twenge said that millennials are more tolerant when it comes to the subject of premarital sex, but they had fewer sexual relations compared to baby boomers. Meanwhile, baby boomers from the 50s and 60s had an average of 11 partners.

That average dropped for millennials born in the 70s, 80s and 90s, as stated in a Science Daily report. On average, millennials had eight partners in their lifetime. Despite the trend on online dating apps, young people of today actually have less action than their parents.

The study, published May 5 in Archives of Sexual Behaviour, also found that for the past 40 years, the stigma surrounding premarital sex has declined. From 2010 to 2012, the study found 58 percent of respondents believe there is nothing wrong with premarital sex, compared to only 29 percent reported in the early 70s.

"When the culture places more emphasis on the needs of the self and less on social rules, more relaxed attitudes toward sexuality are the almost inevitable result,” Twenge said in a Global News report. While the youth of today is found to be more open minded when it comes to sex but are less inclined to engage in the activity, their parents may have had more exciting sex life - only it’s not meant to be revealed.

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