Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill have found that adolescents ranking either below or above average on IQ tests are more likely to remain virgins longer.

Researchers Mariah Mantsun Cheng and J. Richard Udry conducted the study which found that adolescents whose IQ scores fell between 70 and 110 were the most likely to have had sex. With the average IQ ranging from 90 to 110, those significantly above or below the average appeared to be the most likely to have remained virgins.

The study showed that while 39.8 percent of males within the average IQ range had been sexually active, only 29.2 percent who were above the average had been sexually active. It was also found that in the categories of below average IQ scores, 63.3 percent of males and 81.6 percent of females had never had sex. Most of the adolescent men and women with below average scores had experienced fewer instances of romantic or physical attraction.

The research was funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with other nationwide universities. The CDC has found that by age 19, 80 percent of men and 75 percent of women have lost their virginity. Further supporting the link between IQ and sexual activity is research reported by Wellesley College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At Wellesley, 60 percent of the undergraduates are virgins and at MIT 47 percent of the undergraduates are also virgins.

The study conducted by Cheng and Udry has been ongoing since 1994 and is outlining the relationship between sex and IQ.