Do you think that the act of intimacy is all down to the look of love and the throws of lust? If you're a woman chances are your thought pattern is along that vein. But for the men amongst us, there's a strong chance you just fancied getting your rocks off.

Men and women alike will be excused for thinking that there's no rational reason for having sex other than the following reasons - the science bit: reproduction, or the fun bit: because it's er... fun. However, thanks to two researchers at The University of Texas, there are now "real" reasons as to why people get down and dirty and the results are far more complex than idle frolics and the circles of life...

In this recent study, the researchers sieved through some bizarre reasons including: "To be closer to God", "because I have a headache and it works better than an Aspirin" and, on a more disturbing note, "to pass on a sexually transmitted disease".

Once the replies were in and counted, the results were whittled down to 20 different reasons for men and 20 different reasons for women. Take a look at just five of each gender's results...

Men:

• Was "horny"
• It feels good
• Wanted to achieve an orgasm
• It's fun
• Wanted to show affection to the person

Women:

• Attracted to the person
• Wanted to express love
• Wanted to please the partner
• Person was intelligent
• Desired emotional closeness

As you can see from the evidence, the fairer sex are (surprise, surprise) more emotional about acts of affection.

What are your reasons for having sex? Take the Virgin Media poll and tell us your reasons...it's just for fun!