It’s conclusive: sex makes people happy. Or so a recent study finds about the relationship between the amount of people sex have and how happy they are. The findings basically state the following: 1) people are happier when they have sex, and 2) they are even happier, like really over the top happy, if they think they are having more sex than their friends.
Even having sex at least once a week boosted people’s happiness scores (however that was calculated) by 44 percent over those who had not had sex in a while. But if those same people thought that their friends were having sex more than them, their happiness plummeted by 14 percent.
In many ways these findings echo previous research on wealth and happiness. If I recall, a really good book I read a long time ago called Stumbling On Happiness discussed research that found that people who had enough money to cover basic needs were much happier than those who were just struggling to get by. But the amount of happiness associated with wealth faded away the more money the person had beyond basic needs. At that point, the most important factor in happiness was the size of wealth compared with the person’s friends and neighbors. So if the person had the smallest house in the neighborhood, he would be miserable even if he was a millionaire. The best solution was to move into a cheaper neighborhood where that person could then afford the biggest house.
Apparently sex works the same way. Start having sex a few times a week and you’ll suddenly feel energized for the week. Have sex every day, and maybe you don’t feel any extra benefit. Hang out with porn stars and be crushed by the depressing knowledge that no one has less sex than you. Hang out with librarians and all of a sudden you can take pride in your sexual abundance (no offense to librarians).
What do you think? Does having more sex make you happier? You can check out the article here.