Neurotic Newlyweds Need Nookie

A New Study Shows, Frequent Sex Protects Neurotic People's Marital Happiness

People who are neurotic are less satisfied in romance and relationships, and when they get married they are more likely to divorce. But a new study has revealed that if neurotic newlyweds have frequent sexual relations, their marital satisfaction is every bit as high as their less neurotic counterparts.

Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotion, and people who are high in it get upset and irritated easily, change their mood often, and worry frequently. High levels of neuroticism are more strongly associated with bad marital outcomes than any other personality factor," said Michelle Russell and James McNulty of the University of Tennessee, authors of the study.But sex in marriage seems to make people happy-other research has shown that sexual interactions improved the next day's mood. Russell and McNulty wanted to know if frequent sexual activity would erase the negative effects of neuroticism.

They followed 72 newlywed couples over the first four years of their marriage; both spouses reported-separately and privately-on their marital satisfaction and sexual frequency every six months… full article