Nevertheless, the shape of the distribution is clearly comparable. However, a similar shape of distribution is shifted towards the younger end in the gay scene sample and toward the older end in the PSE sample. The shapes of the distributions are clearly very similar. There are two differences. The other is that there is an extra hump in the late forties.
Caution has to be exercised in trying to explain the age distribution of our samples.
However some possible explanations that merit further investigation include the following. One explanation may be that the two humps represent two different historical phenomena, with two actually existing humps in the age distribution representing populations who began their sexual careers before or after the legalisation of homosexuality and the growth of the gay scene. Or it may be that because most of the on-site interviews were gathered during weekdays, that there would be a selection bias towards those with free time during the day, especially the retired. Another possible explanation is that the hump in the distribution is an artefact of the age of the interviewers who were all men in their twenties or early thirties and may preferentially have been approached or countenanced for that reason. A third possibility is that, with age, there comes less tolerance for the more social aspects of the commercial gay scene, and a preference for the more overtly and frankly sexual nature of PSEs which may lead to more rapid sexual encounters without extensive social intercourse.