Overview

• The PNAS analysis drew on roughly 400,000 UK Biobank participants and 13,500 Australians, identifying about 1% who reported no lifetime sexual activity.
• Genome-wide analyses attributed about 15% of variation in sexlessness to common genetic differences, with many tiny-effect variants and no single gene.
• Genetic links appeared with higher education and measured intelligence, plus introversion, autism traits and anorexia, alongside negative links with substance-use disorders, depression, anxiety and ADHD.
• Environmental patterns included higher rates in regions with greater income inequality and, for men, in areas with relatively fewer women, with lower male grip strength also associated.
• Participants without sexual experience reported more loneliness and lower happiness, yet the cross-sectional, self-report data cannot separate voluntary asexuality from involuntary lack of opportunities or establish cause.