Recently, scholars from a variety of disciplines have begun to investigate passionate love, sexual desire, and sexual behavior. Specifically, they have begun to investigate questions profound questions as: “Why do men and women engage in sexual liaisons?” “Why do they avoid such liaisons?” In this paper, we will review what theorists have learned about the motives that encourage people to engage in (or to avoid) sexual encounters, focusing specifically about what is know about the influence of gender, personality, and social context on sexual motives. We will close by speculating about the impact of such differing motives on sexual functioning and the prevalence of STIs and AIDs.