“positive emotions” — both in general, and the morning after having sex.
But in each study, affection seemed to largely account for that sex-happiness link.
So does that mean sex, by encouraging affection, helps breed happiness? Or do happy people have sex more often?
One of the studies suggests it may be the former: Debrot’s team found that sex predicted positive emotions the next day — whereas good feelings did not boost couples’ likelihood of having sex over the next 24 hours.
“This is a great study,” says Robin Milhausen. She’s an associate professor of family relations and human sexuality at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada.
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Milhausen, who wasn’t involved in the research, says it “sheds light on how sex and life satisfaction are intertwined.”
So while past studies have linked the frequency of sex to couples’ contentment, it’s actually more complicated than that, according to Milhausen.
“Sex can’t be divorced from context,” she adds. “It’s not a magic bullet. Affection, including post-sex affection, is important.”
Milhausen also points to a particularly interesting finding: Affection mattered to both women and men — in contrast to