If having a happy and satisfied sex life is a part of your meter of overall happiness, here’s how science can help you.
A study pointed out that certain traits in either the husband or wife, or both, can influence how great and satisfactory sex they will have.
Women have a greater influence
“Anytime there is a difference between partners in the amount that they desire something, the one that desires something less, likely has more power,” said co-author of the study Andrea L. Meltzer from Florida State University. Women, on average, have been seen to desire sex less than men. Therefore, it is women who are called the ‘gatekeepers’ of sex.
The trait for women
As per the study in the Journal of Research in Personality, wives who are more ‘agreeable’ and are open to newer things have more sex than those who are not.
The trait for men
It was observed that none of the men’s traits affected the frequency of sex the couple had. However, the traits could impact the overall satisfaction derived from the activity.
Trait that affected sex adversely
If either the female partner or the male partner were ‘neurotic’, that is, they were moody or anxious in their everyday lives, they seemed to enjoy sex lesser.
To each their own
It was established that while the traits of husband and wife affected how happy they themselves were in the bedroom, their traits did not affect the other’s overall sexual satisfaction.
The study
It included responses from 278 couples about their frequency of sex and reported experiences of 218 couples about their overall sexual satisfaction. All the individuals were heterosexual, were not married long and were young, in their 20s or 30s.
Is the study limited in scope?
Many experts pointed out that the study avoids many factors that influence couples’ sex lives. These include partners’ types of work, the nature of their jobs, how much they travel for work, if they work night shifts, so on and so forth. Also, as all the couples were young, many felt that the results may not hold up for older couples.
