It is often said that sexuality is the cement of a couple, and researchers are closely studying the role of sexuality in our romantic relationships and the importance it can have on a couple’s ability to stay united. It is observed that when sexuality is less present, intimacy becomes less frequent over time, or when it is seen as a routine act, relationships slowly slide towards their end.
Sex, the couple’s team-building?
Teambuilding is a term used to describe strengthening a team, and it definitely has its place when it comes to romantic relationships. A couple is primarily a duo, a partnership between two people with shared aspirations. Just as we strive to maintain team cohesion in a workplace, maintaining a cooperative mindset with your partner has many advantages. Disagreements will seem more trivial, your joint projects will thrive, and overall, your personal life will benefit.
Unfortunately, many couples unconsciously neglect the sexual dimension of their relationship as a means to strengthen their bond. At the beginning of a relationship, intimacy naturally occurs frequently, with the excitement of novelty adding to the experience. However, gradually, everyday life takes over, and these moments of symbiosis become less frequent, and sex can become a routine act because “well, it has to be done from time to time.”
Do you remember those moments of euphoria after a fulfilling intimate experience? That connection that existed between you? Certainly, hormones played a role, but once the act was over, you felt a new energy invigorating your body, and the troubles of your relationship suddenly seemed distant… This is what a study conducted by psychologist and scientist Andrea Meltzer from the University of Florida tends to prove.
Making love, a good long-term investment?
Andrea Meltzer’s research team hypothesised that, in addition to providing short-term sexual satisfaction, sex maintained the couple’s bond between intercourses and improved the couple’s overall satisfaction in the longer term.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers examined data from two independent studies, one involving 96 newly-married couples and the other involving 118 newly-married couples. For 14 days, each evening, the newlyweds independently noted in a notebook whether they had had sex with their partner on the same day, whether they were satisfied with their current sex life, their partner, their relationship and their marriage (on a 7-point scale, where 1 = not at all, 7 = extremely).
Over the period, an average of 4 sexual encounters was measured. In addition, sexuality on a given day was associated with sexual satisfaction that lasted over time. Indeed, participants continued to measure high sexual satisfaction 48 hours after their last sexual act. What’s more, this association did not differ according to the participants’ sex, age, personality or length of relationship.
According to Andrea Meltzer, “These results suggest that sex is linked to the quality of relationships over time, through the persistent effects of sexual satisfaction”. So there’s no need to look for your next holiday destination or hotel to spend your next weekend in to save your relationship – you know what you have to do as soon as your boyfriend gets home from work!
Make him read this article, of course! 😇
Source: Measuring sexual afterglow: The enduring benefits of sex and their implications for relationships
