Science says you should be having this much sex

Research has found that the average American is now having less sex than they were a decade ago.

The study published in Archives of Sexual Behaviourshows that between 2010 and 2014 Americans had sex nine fewer times than they did between 2000 and 2004.

That's nine time less for the average person and 16 times less for married couples. These results were consistent across age groups, race, location, occupation and whether they were parents or not.

Surprisingly, those having the most sex were people born during the 1930s, who were probably reaching their sexual peak around the "swinging 60s."

The author of the study Jean M Twenge writes.

With age and time period controlled, those born in the 1930s had sex the most often, whereas those born in the 1990s had sex the least often.

The decline was not linked to longer working hours or increase pornography use.

What is the reason for this dramatic decline then?

You might point towards things like social media, Netflix or video games as distractions that can infiltrate our lives 24/7, but Twenge doesn't believe that is the case.

She writes:

The results suggest that Americans are having sex less frequently due to two primary factors:

An increasing number of individuals without a steady or marital partner and a decline in sexual frequency among those with partners.

This doesn't sound particularly encouraging but is it actually bad news? The answer is no.

Despite these numbers average American adults are still having sex at least 54 times, or just more than once a week.

Even married couples are still managing to find time for each other in the bedroom about 51 times a year.

This is good for maintaining happiness, at least according to research conducted by Amy Muise which found that once a week was sufficient for maintaining one's wellbeing.

Leading a happy lifestyle where sex is a frequent activity can only lead to more health benefits, which is great news, should you be so lucky.

Of course this is only an optimal, but Muise's research doesn't show that having sex more than once a week returns any more emotional benefits.

Timequote her as saying:

Sex is associated with feeling more satisfied in a relationship. But beyond once a week, the wellbeing benefits of sex seem to level off.

That’s not to say that having sex a few times a week (or more) is a bad thing. It just doesn’t seem to make couples any happier.

HT Time

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