Does Having More Sex Actually Make You Happier?

Yep, someone did a study.

Sex is a key component of a happy, stable relationship along with mutual respect, trust, and love, of course. So it makes sense that more sex would make a relationship even better.

But according to new research published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, that’s not the case.

For the study, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University recruited 128 healthy men and women between the ages of 35 and 65 and split them into groups: One group was asked to double how much sex they had in a week; the other was given no instructions on how often they should get busy.

The groups were observed for three months and reported on their relationship satisfaction at the beginning of the study, daily during the period of the experiment, and at the end of the three months.

Here’s the crazy part: Researchers discovered that couples who had more sex actually had a small decrease in happiness. They also reported that they wanted sex less and enjoyed it less when they actually had it.

But it wasn’t the actual act of getting busy that was the problem — researchers found that being ordered asked to have sex more instead of getting busy whenever they wanted to was a turn-off.

This new study contradicts research from the University of Chicago published just last year that found couples who have more sexual encounters have happier, more positive marriages. That also lines up with research from the University of Colorado that discovered people’s happiness was directly proportional to how much sex they were having

Of course, it’s worth noting that while most of us wouldn’t say no to having a little more sex, having double the amount of sex that you normally do takes some serious effort and planning. And planning in and of itself takes the spontaneity out of sex, which is often a big part of what makes it so fun.

Sex is also a good time because, on some level, it feels risqué. If you’ve been (a) granted permission to do it and (b) given what amounts to a homework assignment on it, that element of naughtiness is gone.

Despite the findings, researchers said in a press release that they still think an increase in sexual frequency is good for relationships. Just not when you’re, you know, ordered to do it.


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