People who have more sex are happier - but not for the reason you think

A new study has revealed that people who have more sex tend to be much happier.

Yes, we know, we know. This is not the most ground-breaking discovery. We’re fully aware of that.

What is interesting though, is the reason why they found people were happier.

It turns out it’s because of all the cuddling.

A study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin interviewed two groups of over 400 people in relationships. They were quizzed on how often they had sex, their general levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and how much ‘affectionate touch’ they had in their relationship (cuddling, hugging, kissing and caressing, all of which sounds much less sexy when you call it ‘affectionate touch’).

They initially found that those that had more sex had a higher level of happiness. But then when they factored in the ‘affectionate touch’ levels, the sex–happiness link all but disappeared.

What they concluded was that sex leads to affection, and it’s the affection actually makes people happier in their lives overall.

It was the regular intimate connections with another human that made their lives better.

Anik Debrot from the University of Fribourg who undertook the study, said:

When engaging in sex, people not only seek an intimate connection, but indeed experience more affection, both when having sex and in the next several hours.

Hence sex seems not only beneficial because of its physiological or hedonic effects, but because it promotes a stronger and more positive connection with the partner.

Human beings need more than just sex, guys.

HT: British Psychological Society

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