Couples who are completely head-over-heels for one another aren’t necessarily having more sex, according to new research.
While we may assume that more love equals more sex, the review – published in Current Sexual Health Reports – found that there’s actually no correlation. Sexual frequency is not a reflection of how much you love your partner.
The data does, however, demonstrate that romantic feelings are a major influencing factor where sex is concerned. The state of being in love is associated with increased sexual frequency, but the intensity of those feelings doesn’t have a bearing.
The review pulled figures from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, the world’s largest survey of people experiencing romantic love, which collated responses from 1,500 people across 33 countries.
Interestingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it revealed that being in what’s colloquially called the honeymoon period – the early stages of a romantic relationship – does tend to correlate with a higher sexual frequency.
Young couples in newer relationships also appear to be engaging in more sex than people in longer-term partnerships.
Specifically, young adults in love reported having sex 3.5 times per week on average, while married couples have sex once a week on average.
Dr Natasha Langan – a clinical psychologist and accredited psychosexual therapist who was not involved in the study – told BBC Science Focus she wasn’t surprised by the review’s findings.
“Sexual frequency is influenced by a wide range of individual, relational and contextual factors, so it's unlikely that any one variable, including the intensity of love, can fully explain it,” she said.
Researchers found that, in addition to love intensity, obsessive thinking and commitment levels also had no say in sexual frequency among romantic couples.
“Factors such as sexual communication, the meaning and function of sex within the relationship, sexual self-esteem, relationship quality, mental health, stress, physical health, and the motivations people have for engaging in sex can all play a role,” said Langan.
“Contemporary research also reminds us that desire is shaped by context and relationship dynamics, not simply by how much we love a partner.”
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