What encourages women in long-term relationships to initiate sex more regularly? A new study has found that while men solicited intercourse on average three times more often than women, sex became much more frequent when women took the initiative. One key aspect was whether they could separate the physical enjoyment of sex from the emotional aspects of the partnership. The other factor was how passionate women felt their relationship was. Researchers considered couples’ happiness, commitment, intimacy, trust and love too, but passion was the only factor that predicted the frequency of sex. So the takeout message seems to be that when women can see sex as something less emotional, more passionate and physical, we desire it more.
Words Laura Potter. Photograph Stocksy