Quickie: Want to Have More Sex? Become More of a Giver

Why altruism can boost our sex lives

Are you having a sexual dry spell? Do you give money to charity or donate blood? Although at first blush these two questions may not seem related, according to research in the British Journal of Psychology, they are because the more you engage in altruistic acts, the more you will probably be engaging in sexual ones.

Researchers Pat Barclay and Steven Arnocky asked 800 people about their relationships and how much sex they’re having, as well as how often they engaged in different acts of altruism. The altruistic acts included things like helping classmates, donating to charity, giving blood, and doing random acts of kindness — like helping strangers cross the street. When the researchers controlled for factors like personality type and age, they found that those who were more altruistic actually had more sex.

“It appears that altruism evolved in our species, in part, because it serves as a signal of other underlying desirable qualities, which helps individuals reproduce,” Arnocky explained.

However, Arnocky notes that although men and women both benefited from altruism in terms of sex and relationships, there was a stronger correlation among men. Also, he says that more of these kinds of altruism studies should be done to look at additional factors like relationship quality and length.

“Given the importance we place on attractiveness, resources and intelligence, it would be worthwhile to explore how individuals ‘trade-off’ altruism against other desirable qualities,” he said.

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Source:

Selfless people have more sex, study finds. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804141642.htm