Quickie: Are You Neurotic? Have More Sex!

People who score high in neuroticism significantly improve their relationships with increased sex

Irritability. Mood swings. Harmful emotions. For people who score high in neuroticism, these issues are quite common and can predictably have a negative impact on their romantic relationships — particularly when they get married.

“High levels of neuroticism are more strongly associated with bad marital outcomes than any other personality factor,” explained Michelle Russell and James McNulty in a study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The good news is, sex may be the answer to this problem.

In a study that followed 72 newlywed couples for four years, researchers looked at the correlation between how often participants had sex and how satisfied they felt in their marriage. In the beginning six months of their marriages, couples reported on average having sex once a week, and sex frequency slightly lowered to three times a month by the end of the study.

To measure marital satisfaction, McNulty and Russell asked the couples the degree to which they agreed with the statements “My relationship with my partner makes me happy,” and they “have a good marriage.” Although they did not see any correlation between happiness in a marriage and sex frequency for most couples — since people reported being happy during periods of both high and low levels of sexual activity — the results for those high in neuroticism were strikingly different.

For these participants, the more intercourse they had, the happier they were with their spouse — especially in the beginning of the marriage. As a result, these couples were able to avoid the relationship pitfalls frequently associated with a neurotic personality type.

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Source:

Frequent sex protects marital happiness for neurotic newlyweds. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101208083055.htm