How Many Times Couples Should Have Sex To Remain Happy?

Many have been fighting on how many times committed couples should have sex to make their relationship closer and happier. Some intend to do it like a daily routine while others just do it when the mood strikes, but a recent study shows that having sex once a week is enough to be a happy couple.

The study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Sciences, reveals that married couple or couples in a committed relationship who have sex four or five times a week did not report feeling any happier than those couples who only have intercourse once a week.

Researchers also noted that couples who have set a goal of having sex every day may tend to be overwhelmed by the idea and start avoiding it.

"For people in relationships, their romantic relationship quality is one of the biggest predictors of their overall happiness," said Amy Mulse of the University of Toronto Mississauga and lead author of the study. "Having sex more than once a week might not be enhancing that (relationship connection), although it is not bad."

For the study, researchers analyzed survey data from two different large-scale studies participated by 2,400 married couples in the U.S. National Survey of Families and Households.

In a report from CNN, Mulse said that the study revealed that sex can boost the happiness of couples due to the feeling of satisfaction in their relationship, but she also admitted that there are loopholes in the study.

First, the researchers don't know if the happiness of the couple comes after sex or if they are already happy even before having intercourse. The second catch is couple preferences. Some couples might be satisfied rocking their partners once a week, while other might find it too little, or even too much.

"Certainly there are couples for whom having sex less frequently will be fine for their happiness, and there are couples who will get increases in happiness if they have sex more than once a week," Mulse added.