Neurotic significant other making you neurotic and you think a break-up is looming in the near future? Your relationship could be suffering from a “happiness deficit” according to researchers at the University of Tennessee. They have also come up with the cure. Lots and lots of sex is the way to erase the deficit.
Michelle Russell and James McNulty of the University of Tennessee say neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotion and people who are high in it get upset and irritated easily, change moods often, and worry frequently. People who score high in neuroticism are less satisfied in romance and relationships, and when they get married they are more likely to divorce.
The two researchers tracked 72 newlywed couples during the first four years of their marriage as both spouses reported on their marital satisfaction and sexual frequency every six months.
The study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, found on average, couples reported sexual intercourse about once a week during the first six months of marriage, and about three times a month by the fourth year of marriage.
The study found for spouses with high levels of neuroticism, frequent sexual intercourse improved their marital satisfaction — enough to completely wipe away the “happiness deficit” that neurotic spouses usually have.