When it comes to a long and happy union, a regular and healthy sex life is often touted as the binding force that keeps couples canoodling as the decades wear on. But now researchers have revealed that when it comes to the sweet spot, a once-a-week roll in the hay is the ideal number for happiness and well being.
Researchers looked at data on 25,510 Americans between the ages of 18 and 89, and discovered that almost two-thirds of the group identified as being married or in a committed relationship. For those, more sex clearly correlated with more happiness, while for the singletons it was not statistically significant.
Running the numbers, the researchers tried to figure out if there is a cap on coping off boosting happiness levels, and discovered that happiness peaks at weekly sex.
“This showed a linear association between sex and happiness up to a frequency of once a week, but at higher frequencies there is no longer an association," Amy Muise, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto Mississauga and lead researcher, said.
"Therefore it is not necessary, on average, for couples to aim to engage in sex as frequently as possible."
These result, published in the journal Social Psychology & Personality Science, are sourced from data gathered in 1996 and 1998, and in order to get more accurate and timely statistics, the study also surveyed a smaller, ethnically diverse group online. And the same benchmark for bed rocking was found.
Comparisons were also made on whether having sex made people happier than being richer – and while for many answering the survey, happiness went hand-in-hand with a bigger bank account, accounting for the sex-once-a-week purists, sex won out. Frequency of sex also only represented just 7% of the association between relationship satisfaction and happiness.
“It’s important to maintain a sexual connection with a romantic partner, but it is also important to have realistic expectations for one's sex life (given that many couples are busy with work and family responsibilities,)" Muise said.
On Newstalk Breakfast, the people of Dublin were asked on how much the value of frequent fornication. You listen back to their comments below:
