Sex DOESN’T make us happier… instead it can generate misery, say experts
A new study quashes previous research that suggest there is a link to sex and happiness
IT'S official - sex doesn't actually make you happier.
On the contrary, it makes you miserable, according to scientists.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, found that it's a common misconception that having more sex will make you happier - in fact it's the opposite.
Even though lots of studies have collected evidence to suggest there is a link to sex and happiness, researchers from the university say that other factors besides making love, such as income, location and age, also contribute to our mood.
George Leowenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at the university, said: “Although it seems plausible that sex could have beneficial effects on happiness, it is equally plausible that happiness affects sex... or that some third variable, such as health, affects both.”
Researchers set up a 90-day experiment and asked 64 married couples between the ages of 35 and 65 to rate their sex life.
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They split them into two groups and ask one group to have more sex and asked the other group to change nothing about their sex life.
Then they analysed the results by comparing how happy they were afterwards.
Writing in their paper, the team said: "Contrary to what one would expect if the causal story running from sexual frequency to happiness were true, we observed a weak negative impact of inducing people to have more sex on mood.”
Couples who had twice the amount of sex than usual didn't enjoy the love-making as much and were less happy overall, which means that more steamy sessions under the sheets do not make us happier.
Speaking to The Times, the professor advised that when it comes to sex, you should "concentrate on quality and not quantity if you want to be happy".