WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Men who become regular clients of sex workers often are seeking real love and intimacy from the sex workers, U.S. researchers suggest.

Study authors Christine Milrod and Ronald Weitzer of George Washington University analyzed 2,442 postings on an online discussion board from a sex provider where clients review sex workers and discuss their interactions with them.

The Web site is reported to have more than 1 million clients of sex workers read and post about their experiences, the researchers said.

The study, published in the journal Men and Masculinities, said approximately one-third of the postings studied included a discussion about emotional intimacy between sex workers and their clients.

Many of the men expressed a desire to grow their relationships with sex workers beyond the physical level to include sharing private feelings and mutual love, the study said.

"In recent years, we have come to see a gradual normalization of independent escort prostitution, where sexual encounters have come to resemble quasi-dating relationships," Milrod said in a statement. "Our study shows that regular clients of a particular sex provider often come to experience feelings of deep affection, which can progress into an authentic love story."

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