On August 18, 2026, Adam & Eve released results from a survey measuring how comfortable Americans are discussing sex — and the generational split is the headline. Among respondents, 89% of Gen Z and 90% of Millennials said they are comfortable having those conversations, compared with 86% of Gen X and 74% of Baby Boomers. The web-based survey was conducted by an independent third-party survey company among more than 2,000 American adults aged 18 and up, commissioned by Adam & Eve as part of its ongoing sexual wellness and behavior research.

Why It Matters

Brand-commissioned surveys deserve appropriate skepticism — Adam & Eve sells the products that benefit from a destigmatized market, and "comfortable discussing sex" is a self-report measure with obvious social-desirability pressure. Read as directional rather than definitive, though, the numbers align with what the rest of the industry's data keeps showing: the comfort gradient runs steeply by age, and it's steepest on the specific behaviors that convert to purchases. That has real commercial consequence. Note the mirror-image story landing the same week: plusOne pushing intimate wellness into 10-minute campus delivery on 16 college campuses. Brands are allocating distribution investment toward exactly the cohort this survey identifies as most conversationally open, and away from the demographic where a quarter still report discomfort. The risk in that consensus is that everyone crowds the same 18-34 shelf while the Boomer market — which has money, longer product lifecycles and a genuine unmet need around menopause and ED — stays under-served on the assumption that they won't talk about it. The nuance worth holding onto: 74% of Boomers still said they're comfortable talking about sex. The problem isn't that older consumers won't have the conversation. It's that the industry has largely stopped inviting them into it.

Drill into intensity and the gap widens. Asked about being very comfortable discussing sexual preferences and boundaries, 60% of Gen Z and 59% of Millennials said yes, versus 48% of Gen X and just 37% of Boomers — a 23-point spread between the youngest and oldest cohorts on the measure that actually predicts behavior.

On the other side of the ledger, 15% of Americans overall said they were uncomfortable having these conversations. That figure breaks down as 26% of Boomers, 14% of Gen X, 11% of Gen Z and 9% of Millennials.

"When it comes to sex and relationships, communication is always key," said Adam & Eve's resident sexologist Dr. Jenni Skyler. "Even longtime partners are not mind readers, and desires, preferences, and boundaries constantly change. Whether you are navigating a new relationship or in a 50-year marriage, the ability to discuss your wants and needs should remain a top priority."

Sources

Update — 2026-08-19

Initial entry — story first created.