structural:reformatting
Research

According to a survey on heterosexual couples about duration of sexual intercourse and foreplay, neither partner in these relationships was satisfied with the duration of foreplay in their relationships. This survey sampled 152 couples who were mainly university educated and satisfied with their sexual life. In this study, and when compared to some larger studies, men were better at perceiving desired sexual intercourse and foreplay duration for their partner. The average times spent on intercourse were 7 minutes and 12 minutes on foreplay for the couples in this survey. Another result of this survey was that the length of desired foreplay for men and women was about the same.

In a global study of about 12,000 individuals from 27 countries in 6 continents, physical foreplay was rated as "very important" for 63% of men and 60% of women.

According to a study of individuals in committed romantic relationships, pornography and sexual media usage does not play a role in satisfaction with time spent on foreplay, although other aspects of sexual satisfaction can be impacted by this type of sexual media. This means that foreplay is an important part of the sexual script, and social influences on the sexual script such as pornography and provocative sexual media do not impact foreplay. Time spent on foreplay is an important part of becoming sexually aroused and unique to each individual, and individuals still need the same amount of foreplay in order to become sexually aroused despite what they learn from porn.