Having sex once a week is just about perfect.That’s the takeaway from a new study, based on surveys of more than 30,000 Americans gathered over 40 years, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
“Although more frequent sex is associated with greater happiness, this link was no longer significant at a frequency of more than once a week,” said lead researcher Amy Muise, a social psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto-Mississauga.Our findings suggest that it’s important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner, but you don’t need to have sex everyday as long as you’re maintaining that connection.”
Researchers noted that the study was not designed to show cause-and-effect, so it remains unknown whether happiness leads to weekly sex, or if weekly sex arouses more joy in life.The study was also limited to people in romantic relationships, not single people.
“In fact, there was no association between s exual frequency and well-being for single people,” said Muise. The findings were also consistent across age groups, gender and the length of the relationship — whether months or decades.
Muise said couples should discuss whether their sexual needs are being met, rather than simply press for more sex.