Are your sexual fantasies normal? New study reveals what most of us think of

Do you ever worry if what floats your boat sexually might be a little unusual? Or even downright bizarre?

If so, a new study claims to set everything straight - and define the demure from the deviant, The Daily Mail reports.

Conducted in Montreal, Canada, the research was published today in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

In a press statement, the authors said: 'Many theories about deviant sexual fantasies incorporate the concept of atypical fantasies, or paraphilias.'

Paraphilia is defined as the the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, or individuals.

However the authors argue that 'scientific literature does not describe what these types of fantasies actually are'.

Even the World Health Organisation talks about 'unusual' fantasies in defining paraphilias.

Christian Joyal, lead author of the study, said: 'Clinically, we know what pathological sexual fantasies are.

'They involve non-consenting partners, they induce pain, or they are absolutely necessary in deriving satisfaction.

'But apart from that, what exactly are abnormal or atypical fantasies?'

'Our main objective was to specify norms in sexual fantasies, an essential step in defining pathologies,' he explained.

'And as we suspected, there are a lot more common fantasies than atypical fantasies.'

To find out, they asked members of the general population - 'as simple as that,' said Professor Joyal.

Because most studies of this nature are conducted with university students, the researchers wanted to find adults willing to describe their sexual fantasies.

For the study, just over 1,500 adults in Quebec (a 50/50 split of men and women) completed a questionnaire describing their sexual fantasies.

They were also asked to describe their favourite fantasy in detail.

'The results were more than interesting,' said Professor Joyal.

'Not surprisingly, the study confirms that men have more fantasies and describe them more vividly than women,' he added.

The study also found that a significant proportion of women - between 30 and 60 per cent - think of themes associated with submission (e.g. being tied up).

'Importantly, unlike men, women in general clearly distinguish between fantasy and desire,' Professor Joyal said.

'Therefore, many women who express more extreme fantasies of submission (e.g. domination by a stranger) specify that they never want these fantasies to come true.

'The majority of men, however, would love their fantasies to come true', e.g. sex with more than one other person. 

And while women tend to fantasise about their partner, men generally fantasise more about extramarital relationships compared to women.

The study also noted: 'One of the most intriguing findings has to do with the significant number of unique male fantasies.'

By this, it was referring to watching their partner being with someone else, for example.

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