It’s a common misconception that couples should be diving between the sheets every moment of every day to be happy, but one study recently set out to find exactly how much sex we should be having.
According to the study of 2,400 couples, those in committed relationships who had more sex tended to be happier, but the benefits leveled off at one steamy session per week.
Couples who did the dirty deed four times a week or more didn’t report being any happier, which lead researcher Amy Muise thinks is down to the pressure couples feel to have frequent sex.
But the problem with the study, pointed out by Muise, is working out what came first for these couples — the sex, or the happiness?
While it would seem that regular sex equals greater happiness, Muise notes that actually it could just be that some couples were happier in their relationship to begin with and frequently getting down to business had nothing to do with it.
“For people in relationships, their romantic relationship quality is one of the biggest predictors of their overall happiness,” says Muise.
“For some couples, the question of how often they should have sex might not have come up, which could be a sign they feel sufficiently close and satisfied — or that they are too busy and disconnected to think about it.”
So, although the study recommends couples aim to have sex once a week, the right amount of sexy time is however much makes you and your partner happy.
Every couple’s different, says Muise, so, as long as you feel satisfied and can talk about it with your partner, everything from the washing-up to the naughtier side of life will be okay.