Here’s what your sex life actually reveals about your relationship

Couples who are completely head-over-heels for one another aren’t necessarily having more sex, according to new research. While we may assume that more love equals more sex, the review – published in Current Sexual Health Reports – found that there’s actually no correlation.

Sexual frequency is not a reflection of how much you love your partner. The data does, however, demonstrate that romantic feelings are a major influencing factor where sex is concerned.

What Happened

The state of being in love is associated with increased sexual frequency, but the intensity of those feelings doesn’t have a bearing. Interestingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it revealed that being in what’s colloquially called the honeymoon period – the early stages of.

• The review pulled figures from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, the world’s largest survey of people experiencing romantic love, which collated responses from 1,500 people across 33 countries.

• Researchers found that, in addition to love intensity, obsessive thinking and commitment levels also had no say in sexual frequency among romantic couples.

• Dr Natasha Langan – a clinical psychologist and accredited psychosexual therapist who was not involved in the study – told BBC Science Focus she wasn’t surprised by the review’s findings.

Key Details

Specifically, young adults in love reported having sex 3.5 times per week on average, while married couples have sex once a week on average.

• Young couples in newer relationships also appear to be engaging in more sex than people in longer-term partnerships.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by BBC Science Focus Magazine as more details emerge