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| Correlation
Between the Frequency of Sexual Intercourse and Marital
Satisfaction
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Marital satisfaction is closely connected with sexual satisfaction.
Relationship satisfaction guarantees marital satisfaction.
The main factor in sexual satisfaction is the frequency of
sex. The other factors include practice, sharing sexual preferences,
probation of new techniques, e.t.c. All these aspects of sexual
relations contribute greatly to nonsexual relations of the
couple. Couples which have sex frequently are happier in their
married life, they more enjoy time spending together, more
often share hobbies and activities together and easier find
solutions from conflict situations. The strong connection
between sex and marital satisfaction shows that couples with
frequent sex are happier in other areas of life. “It
is likely that an unhappy, stressed, or conflicted partner—one
who is preoccupied, worried, or angry about various (nonsexual)
aspects of the relationship—would have difficulty becoming
sexually interested in and aroused by the other partner, particularly
if that partner is viewed as a source of the conflict or unhappiness”
(Donnelly, 1993, p. 178). However, if the quality of frequency
of sexual relations is not satisfactory for one of the partners,
it can lead to problems in other spheres and areas of relations.
Most researches indicate a close connection between frequency
of sex and marital relations (Donnelly, Morokoff, 1993).
Denise Donelly (1993) made a great research in this sphere
having interviewed about 6,000 married couples and determined
factors which can influence happiness and satisfactory in
marriage. The research showed that these factors include not
only frequency of sex, communication about desires and preferences
but also life satisfaction, traditions, marital interaction
variables, religious preferences and so on. Nevertheless,
the statistics prove that the marriage dissatisfaction is
correlated to rare and inactive sexual relations which, in
their turn, lead to the probability of separation. The absence
of sex signalizes that there are problems between the partners
and such kind of marriage can not be considered as a satisfactory
one. The marriage happiness can be measured by the level of
sexual life: the more active sexual relations, the happier
the family is.
Other researchers (Morokoff, Gillilland, 1993) also examined
the correlation between sexual activity and marital satisfaction.
They researched the relationship between sex frequency, stress
and satisfaction in marriage. The participants of the research
were 165 men and women of different age, state of health and
marriage duration. “However, the greater negative emotional
reactions and dissatisfaction with frequency of intercourse,
the less satisfaction with the marriage” (Gillilland,
1993). So, frequency of sexual intercourse signifies the level
of marital satisfaction. This factor has both psychological
and medical background.
To sum up, recent researches show that frequency of sex, sexual
activity, sexual satisfaction and sexual interest contribute
greatly to marital satisfaction. Donnelly (1993) states that
absence of sexual life or unsatisfactory rare sexual connections
usually are the sign of other problems in the family. The
frequency of sex depends usually on state of health of both
partners, sexual compatibility, duration of marriage, level
of trust, small children, e.t.c. The dependence of marital
satisfaction on the frequency of sex can be proved not only
through the psychological but also medical point of view.
Sexual relations should be in no way neglected if we speak
about happiness and satisfaction of the married couple. Nevertheless,
being one of the most important factors of marital satisfaction
sex can not be analyzed apart from other factors that influence
marital satisfaction.
References
Donnelly, Denise A. (1993). Sexually inactive marriages. The
Journal of Sex Research, 30(2), 171-179.
Matthias, Ruth E., Lubben, James E., Atchison, Kathryn A.,
& Schweitzer, Stuart O. (1997). Sexual activity and satisfaction
among very old adults: Results from a community-dwelling medicare
population survey. The Gerontologist, 37(1), 6-14.
Morokoff, Patricia J. & Gillilland Ruth (1993). Stress,
sexual functioning, and marital satisfaction. The Journal
of Sex Research, 30(1), 43-53.
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