Remember the honeymoon phase of your relationship where you and your partner couldn’t keep your hands off each other? So many couples wish they could stay in that phase, but as life unfolds and you settle into new routines, it tends to slow down.
From new adult stresses to kids, work, and managing busy schedules, finding time to be together as a couple can be challenging at times. And with all those stresses, it can be hard to get yourselves in the mood to rekindle some of that spark and heat from early on.
It’s there, but you sometimes have to dig deeper to find it and you both have to be on the same page – not always an easy feat. We have been told that having more sex with our partner makes for a better relationship, but is that motivation enough to find the time and spark?
A new study unveils the real motivations couples have to have sex and these reasons significantly affect marital satisfaction, just as frequency does. Published in the October issue of “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin”, researchers at the University of Toronto have divided the most common reasons why people have sex, most relevant to long-term relationships where you’re less likely to be in that “honeymoon” phase.
Not only that, but they’ve discovered that the reason for having sex can play a big role in the happiness in a marriage.
The study looked at 108 heterosexual dating couples who completed daily surveys every day for two weeks. On the days where the couples had sex, they were asked 26 questions about their motives for having sex and rating them – and they ranged from not wanting to make their partner upset to wanting to feel better about themselves. The couples were also asked to rate theirrelationship satisfaction, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction.
The results? Interesting if you ask me and their answers depended on their reason to have sex, whether it was an “approach motive” (positive) or an “avoidance motive” (negative). On the days where the couple had sex and at least one person’s motivation was more of a positive approach (example: to feel closer to your partner), both felt more satisfied in their relationship and noted their sexual satisfaction was high as well.
When at least one partner answered a more avoidance motive for having sex (example: I don’t want to say no again and make them upset), they both reported less satisfied both sexually and in the relationship as well as having less desire.
The results of this study makes me wonder if that age-old advice of scheduling it in to make sure you have sex with your partner at least sometime during the month is the best approach? It seems both parties are happier when they both want it for positive reasons and to me, doing it “because it’s been a while” or “because I should”, doesn’t seem to be too positive to me.
The truth is, couples have all kids of motivations to have sex and a study published in the August 2007 issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior titled “Why Humans Have Sex” found 237 different motivations for couples to make love. These reasons were categorized into 4 major categories with 13 different sub-categories and had a lot of range.
1. Exercise and stress
“It seems like a good exercise” which would be under the Physical Category in the study.
2. Pleasure
“It’s exciting” is another reason given that the researchers have categorized as a Physical reason.
3. Experience
“I was curious about sex” is another one for the Physical category researchers outlined.
4. Desire
“The person was a good dancer” seems like a good reason to be in the Physical category.
5. Practical
“I wanted to have a baby” was a reason the study uncovered which they’ve categorized as Goal Based.
Source: Daily Graphic
Vote BigEye in the Social Media Awards as the Best Entertainment site. Go to socialmediaawards.ug/vote.php
“[katogoaward]”
