<div><p>Everyone talks about the 'magic' number and whether they're embarrassed by it, or curious how they stack up against their friends and partners. </p><p>Whether you feel you're on the "low side" of the spectrum or a "high number" may scare off potential romances, talking about past lovers can make for an uncomfortable situation. </p><p>Now a new survey has revealed what both men and women think the ideal number of sexual partners and the results may surprise you. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Couple_Bed_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Chatelaine</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>In a survey done by IllicitEncounters.com, a dating website for married people, found that both men and women agreed that 12 was the perfect number of lovers to have had in your life.</p><p>But why 12? </p><p>12 shows that a person is "sexually adventurous", "liberal" and "transient". Whereas fewer than 10 partners send that message that the person is "too conservative" and "sexually inexperienced", according to the research. </p><p>On the other end of the scale, both men and women agreed that anything above 19 partners posed a red flag. This group would be considered to be "too selfish", "difficult to please" or "too eager to jump from partner to partner". </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>But how important is this magic number, really?</p><p>45% of women said they wanted to know how many people their partner had slept with, while 53% of men would want to ask the question. </p><p>"Men are a little more self-conscious when it comes to competition," <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4472804/Men-women-AGREE-ideal-number-sexual-partners.html" target="_blank">said Christian Grant, spokesman for IllicitEncounters.com</a>. "They want to be seen as the biggest and best; whether that stems from genuinely wanting to satisfy their partner or to massage their own ego is another matter entirely<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4472804/Men-women-AGREE-ideal-number-sexual-partners.html#ixzz4gEAbjBPL"></a><a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU&u=MailOnline"></a><a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU&u=DailyMail">.</a>"</p><p>"Women on the other hand, they're just happy to enjoy the moment, past experiences aside."</p><p>After studies confirm <a href="https://www.shared.com/this-is-how-much-sex-you-should-be-having-to-be-happy/">how often</a> and for <a href="https://www.shared.com/experts-say-this-is-how-long-you-should-be-having-sex-for/">how long you should be having sex</a>, this is an interesting addition.</p><p><strong>How do you stack up? </strong></p></div>