Physical relations, or sex, is way more important to men than it is to women; or is it? Despite this popular belief, a new study found that less sexual kissing, touching and cuddling are more important to men than it is to women; myth busted!
Researchers from The Kinsey Institute surveyed more than 1,000 couples from the U.S. and four other countries. Their main goal was to determine what factors predict both relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction in long term relationships. They too were surprised by the findings.
They found this: more men reported being happy in their relationships, while more women reported being sexually satisfied. And the longer the relationship, the more these women were satisfied. Men on the other hand, needed touch and affection to be happy with their relationships, even though it was an important factor for both sexes.
"Touch from a person you love and trust is a major emotional resource and a way that people can regulate their emotions when they are upset," said Aline Zoldbrod, a psychologist in Lexington, Mass. "Couples who use touch to comfort, to compliment, and yes, to seduce and arouse, are
But how do you measure sexual satisfaction? is everyone looking for the same thing in sex? And what could be the reason why it is more important to women as they get older than men?
One reason may be that men tend to hit their sexual drive peak in their late teens while women are at their peaks in their early 30’s. Does that mean that sex isn’t important as men age? It probably has more to do with the natural aging process and lower hormone levels, such as testosterone.
Although men and women had slightly different opinions about what made them happy in their long term relationships, both sexes reported being happier the longer they were involved, acknowledging that both touch and affection is important for a relationship to last.
On a site note, another finding of the study was that there was a cultural different: Japanese men reported being more satisfied sexually than American men, and Japanese and Brazilian women were more satisfied sexually than American women although the reason for this cannot be determined.