Money, Sex & Relationships

According to a paper which is titled "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study" two economists Andrew Oswald, of the University of Warwick and Dr David Blanchflower, of Dartmouth College in the UK, cite the results which support the fact that increasing how often you have sex boosts your happiness. From analyzing data on the self-reported levels of sexual activity and happiness of 16,000 people, it is apparent that the amount of sex you are having does make a difference to how happy you feel.

According to their report the happiest people had just one sexual partner! Interestingly 40% of the females had not had sexual intercourse in the previous year compared to 20% of the males. They also found that men who paid for sex were considerably less happy than other people and that those who have never had sex outside their marriage also report markedly lower happiness scores.

It was established that income buys greater happiness, but it does not buy more sex, and that sex appeared to have disproportionately strong effects on the happiness of highly educated people.

Another interesting point was the calculation that by increasing sexual activity from once a month to once a week increases your happiness levels as much as would a $65,000 a year pay rise!!

Whether that hefty happiness income boost is the result of marital bliss or more sex is up for debate. But their "econometric" calculations confirm what psychologists have long known: sex is strongly and positively associated with happiness.

With that said let me remind you that that there are also substantial health benefits in having a good sex life.  It keeps you feeling youthful, reduces stress and increases the feeling of contentment. Now go for it!