
How can you ensure that elusive 'spark' continues to burn strong after the intial novelty of the relationship wears off?
Psychology professor Gurit E Birnbaum her and team conducted a number of experiments in order to determine the optimum conditions for the most fulfilling sex: they published their results in a journal, titled: Intimately connected: The importance of partner responsiveness for experiencing sexual desire.
Here are the three experiments:
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The first experiment brought together 153 couples. They were instructed to have ten-minute conversations, either about something positive or something negative, with their significant others via online chat.
Though they believed they were communicating with their partners, they were in fact talking to a researcher, who had pre-prepared replies that ranged from empathetic and responsive ‘I’m sorry you went through that’ to completely unresponsive.
Following the conversation, everyone had to fill out a form where they indicated whether or not, and to what extent they felt that their partners were responsive to them. Another form immediately after had them fill out how much they wanted to engage in sexual activity with their significant other.
Interestingly, men’s interest level in sex stayed constant regardless of the level of responsiveness they were shown earlier. Women on the other hand experienced “greater desire while interacting with a responsive partner than while interacting with an unresponsive one”.