Study shows having more sex will not make you happier
The assumption is that having more sex will make you happier, but I'm afraid that isn't the case. According to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, increased frequency of sexual activity leads to a decline in actually wanting it, meaning enjoyment (and happiness) is reduced.
In the first of two studies to look at the connection between sexual frequency and happiness, 128 healthy people aged between 35 and 65 who were in a married male-female couple were split into two groups. The first group didn't get any instructions on sexual frequency, whereas the second was asked to double the amount of sex they had.
The couples were interviewed on a daily basis about their health, happiness and their enjoyment of sex. Those who were instructed to have more sex felt a rather small decrease in their happiness and sexual enjoyment, which researchers concluded wasn't because of having sex more times, but because they were asked to do it rather than wanting to do it themselves.
"Perhaps couples changed the story they told themselves about why they were having sex, from an activity voluntarily engaged in to one that was part of a research study," George Loewenstein, the lead author commented. "If we ran the study again, and could afford to do it, we would try to encourage subjects into initiating more sex in ways that put them in a sexy frame of mind, perhaps with babysitting, hotel rooms or Egyptian sheets, rather than directing them to do so."
The researchers have concluded that while having more sex doesn't make you happier, it will only decrease their happiness if they are forced to have more of it without making the decision themselves. As worded by Tamar Krishnamurti, one of the study's designers: "Instead of focusing on increasing sexual frequency to the levels they experienced at the beginning of a relationship, couples may want to work on creating an environment that sparks their desire and makes the sex that they do have even more fun."
So simply put, don't force your partner to have more sex. Kind of kills it.
