Do happy women have better sex? Are women who have great sex happier than others? A new study sought to find the answer.
Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Sonia Davison of the Women's Health Program at Monash University in Australia recruited 295 women of all ages in order to see whether or not there was a correlation between a satisfied sex life and happiness. Seems like we don't need a study to know the answer to this, but given how many myths and unknowns still exist about women's sexuality, it's important to research these sorts of questions in order to then advise women on the best ways to have a health sex life and life in general.
Researchers made sure to have a balance of pre and post menopausal women, and had 140 women who stated that they were dissatisifed with their sex life. The women who reported this dissatisfaction had lower percentage scores on the ranking their well-being. The women who reported being satisfied with their sex life reported higher scores.
Here's where the study gets tricky. Researchers can't figure out whether being unsatisfied in the bedroom affects happiness in one's life, or vice versa. It's a chicken and egg conundrum, and does place a limitation on the study overall.
Depressingly, even women who were unhappy with their sex life had sex as frequently as the satisfied women - suggesting that pressure from partner or a lack of communication in the relationship could contribute to a pattern that women aren't necessarily getting anything out of.
What the study does point out is that sexual health and satisfaction are a component of well being in some way, and that women have a right to be concerned about these issues, talk to their doctor, and seek out solutions. As head researcher Susan Davis of the Women's Health Program at Monash suggests, "doctors who treat a woman for depression may want to ask her about sexual and relationship satisfaction. That way, before writing out a prescription for an anti-depressant, a doctor could help the patient deal with an underlying issue with sex."