A recent article has explored how frequently couples in a ‘happy’ relationship engage in sexual activity each week.
There’s no definitive answer to how often couples should have sex; what works for one relationship may not apply to another.
Common belief suggests that as people age and when children enter the picture, there tends to be less sexual activity. However, this has been contradicted by some prior studies.
Now, a study has examined how often individuals in ‘happy’ relationships have sex, with findings that are certainly fascinating.
This research, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, involved researchers from the German Family Panel who examined over 2,000 mixed-sex couples, mostly aged between 20 and 39.
The average duration of these relationships was a decade, with most couples being married or cohabitating.
Participants shared data about their sexual activity over three months and rated their satisfaction with their sex lives.
A significant 86 percent of participants reported high satisfaction after engaging in sex once a week.
Matt Johnson, a professor of family science at the University of Alberta and co-author of the study, remarked, “We know, on average, couples who have sex more often tend to report being happier in their relationships (at least up to having sex weekly – more frequent sex doesn’t boost satisfaction), but certainly there must be diversity underlying that.”
He further explained to PsyPost: “To me, two big takeaways are 1) regular sexual interaction is a characteristic of highly satisfying relationships for the majority of couples and 2) these highly satisfied couples reported having sex about once a week.
“Couples may feel pressured to have sex multiple times a week to maintain relationship satisfaction but our results suggest that wasn’t the case in our sample.”
The study also took into account ‘happy’ sexless couples, finding that while they do exist, they are relatively uncommon.