How much sex is enough? Weekly sex makes for happy couples – study

How much sex is enough? Just once a week is all it takes
for optimal happiness among married heterosexual
couples and those in long-term relationships, said a US
study Wednesday.
The findings are based on surveys of more than 30,000
Americans collected over four decades, and are 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 sexual
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.
“It’s important to maintain an intimate connection with
your partner without putting too much pressure on
engaging in sex as frequently as possible,” she said.