IS SEX FREQUENCY RELATED TO HAPPINESS IN COUPLES?

Updated November 18, 2022

Some people like to call it the honeymoon stage. The beginning of any relationship can feel like the two of you can't keep your hands off of each other. Then without warning, you both fall into a routine of doing the same thing only on a different day. So what happens when this spark vanishes?

Experimental findings were published in Psychological Science and describe a study done which found that intercourse can create an approximate 2 day afterglow. This afterglow can stay present and create a pleasing environment around the couple. According to the article, Sex may be key to a happy marriage, study finds, written by Medical News Today, the International Society of Sexual Medicine found that, "only 21 percent of married men and 24 percent of married women have sex on 4 or more days each week".

214 newlywed couples were included in studies done by the Department of Psychology at Florida State University on the lingering benefits of sex and relationships. Two studies were conducted; a sexual satisfaction study conducted over 14 days and a marital satisfaction conducted over half a year. These couples tracked each day, were later asked if they had sex, and where their satisfactory levels were. Results for the 14 day experiment showed that having sex more frequently improved their satisfactory on the day of sexual activity along with the following days. Results for the half year experiment concluded that, "spouses experiencing a stronger afterglow reported higher levels of marital satisfaction both at baseline and over time." Andrea L. Meltzer. Quantifying the Sexual Afterglow: The Lingering Benefits of Sex and Their Implications for Pair-Bonded Relationships

Whatever you and your partner's decision is in the bedroom, please discuss it first. Maybe the next question should be, Can Happiness and Sex Frequency Be Achieved Solo?

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