Erotic daydreams - partners not always in the starring role

It seems 71 per cent of those questioned day dream about someone else instead. Among men, 23 per cent considered an affair with an complete stranger exciting, while 18 per cent of women dream of a rendezvous with a mysterious man. In 15 per cent of cases, both men and women cast a close friend in the lead role of their fantasies; 12 per cent of those asked said famous people were the subject of their daydreams.

Dream partner for most people, apparently, is the "first-rate businessman" or "smart career woman," says Cora, which specialises in publishing romantic novels. More than half of Germans see such people as their imaginary lover. Further findings from the poll were than 85 per cent of Germans in the age bracket 18 to 39 indulged in erotic daydreams often or occasionally. In the population as a whole, the figure is 75 per cent - the same as in Italy and almost as high as Spain's score (77 per cent).

In China and Argentina, 95 per cent of respondents claimed to sexually fantasise regularly. Altogether, 5,500 men and women in 21 countries took part in the survey

(la/dpa)