People who plan ahead have the best sex, study claims
Researchers found that conscientious individuals benefited from better sexual function
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Your support makes all the difference.When you think about what constitutes “sexy”, it’s unlikely that the first thing to spring to mind is Excel documents and iCal invites.
However, despite the hot, steamy and spontaneous encounters we see on film telling us otherwise, scheduled sex may reign supreme in terms of satisfaction.
According to a German study published in The Journal of Sex Research, those with a propensity for forward planning report better sexual function than those who are more easy-going.
Those with personality traits falling under the conscientious umbrella i.e. people who are efficient, achievement-oriented, disciplined and dependable, are more likely to be sexually satisfied than those who pride themselves on a devil-may-care approach to intimacy.
A team of psychologists at Ruhr University Bochum surveyed 966 couples for the study, most of whom were heterosexual, and asked them about the quality of their sex lives and their personality traits in a bid to examine any links.
The researchers used the “Big Five” framework to identify people by their personality traits, which consists of extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience in addition to conscientiousness.
Overall, they found that conscientious people benefited from higher sexual fulfilment, with heterosexual women with highly conscientious partners proving the most satisfied.
According to the study’s authors, this might be because men who are “thorough and dutiful”, as conscientious people often are, could feel more compelled to sexually satisfy their partners than others.
They also suggested that highly conscientious people may benefit from longer and more fulfilled romantic partnerships, given the importance of sexual fulfilment in relationships.
Planning intimacy in some way of form could also contribute to better communication without judgement, they suggest.
“High conscientiousness can be especially beneficial when it comes to putting effort into a satisfying sexual life,” author Julia Velten tells Quartz, “or to postpone one’s own needs and interests to focus on resolving a sexual problem within the context of committed, long-term relationships.”
Interestingly, the study revealed that those possessing traits relating to agreeableness and emotional stability may have “negative partner effects” when it comes to sexual fulfilment.
Therefore, when it comes to sex, it seems that forward-planners finish first.
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