Toronto – A group of researchers at the University of Toronto Mississauga published the results of a study on the importance of an active sex life in married couples. The results were presented in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science on November 18th.
Researchers looked into three studies conducted on more than 30,000 people over 4 decades. The first survey drew data from a 23-year study of 25,000 people. The results found that more sex is linked to higher levels of happiness, but only when the frequency reaches about once a week.
The second survey confirmed the first study’s result. This one recruited 335 ethnically diverse participants in an online poll. In this case, researchers decided to study couples’ happiness not only through sex, but also compare it with income levels, to see if money influences couples’ general happiness. They found that the difference in happiness between monthly sex and weekly sex was actually more dramatic than the difference in happiness between earning $15,000-$25,000 and earning $50,000-$75,000. In other words, weekly sex influences more on happiness than getting paid more.
The third study included data from a 14-year study of 2,400 married couples. One more time, the study’s result confirmed that sex is linked to higher levels of satisfaction with the relationship, but only when couples have sex about once a week.
“Our research suggests that couples do not need to aim to engage in sex as frequently as possible but instead aim to maintain a connection with their partner,” Any Muise, study lead author said.
The results appear to agree with the obvious, more sex is equals to more happiness, especially for men but only up to a degree. Married couples usually struggle with different aspects of their life such as work, children and many other responsibilities. Muise explained that in general it is important to preserve a sexual connection with a romantic partner, but it is also important to have realistic expectations for your sex life, given that many couples are busy with work and responsibilities.
The results of the survey were very different for single people outside committed relationships. For them, the frequency of sex does not significantly translate to a happier life. As a possible explanation for this significant difference, researchers say that perhaps the link between sex and happiness for singles depends on the relationship context or how comfortable people are with sex outside of a relationship.
Source: Huffington Post