Will More Sex Really Make You Happier?
The solution to a stalled sex life isn’t as simple as doing it more frequently. (Photo: Getty Images)
Sex makes you happy. So more sex would make you even happier, right? Not necessarily.
According to new research from Carnegie Mellon University, couples who were instructed to increase their frequency of sexual activity experienced decreased happiness and sexual satisfaction.
The study involved 128 married adults between the ages of 35 and 65. Half of the couples were told to double their frequency of sexual intercourse for the next three months, while the other half served as a control group. The subjects took questionnaires on happiness, health, and sexual satisfaction at the beginning and end of the study, and answered surveys daily during the study.
The results were surprising: The couples who had more sex (about 40 percent more than they did pre-study) reported a small decrease in happiness and said they enjoyed sex less.
Of course, being told by researchers to have more sex isn’t exactly the sexiest thing in the world. And the study authors admit that being part of a research study may have made doing the deed less appealing, therefore influencing the results.
“I’m still convinced more sex is better,” says lead study author George Loewenstein, PhD.
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“I started the research because I know so many older middle-age couples who have little or no sex, and I had a theory that, I thought, could explain why,” Loewenstein tells Yahoo Health.
The basic theory says that when you’re in one emotional state, it’s hard to imagine being in another emotional state. When you don’t want sex, for example, it takes a lot of imagination to remember how satisfying it can be — especially as a relationship goes on. “Wanting tends to decline much more precipitously than liking,” he explains.
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Previous research has found a strong relationship between frequency of sex and happiness. Couples who are more sexually active also say they’re more satisfied with their relationships, studies show. But experts weren’t sure whether more sex actually leads to happiness.
Loewenstein says that his findings are still inconclusive: “With the benefit of hindsight, I think we should have tried to create the conditions in which couples would want to have more sex – e.g., by providing babysitters, nice hotel rooms, Egyptian sheets.”
According to Loewenstein’s theory, you’ll enjoy having more sex once you actually do it — it’s simply that desire takes a dive. He suggests having a regular pattern for having sex, such as doing the deed every Friday night.
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