Bahama Times

Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Scientists Have a Hack for Having More Sex in Long-Term Relationships

Scientists Have a Hack for Having More Sex in Long-Term Relationships

Anyone who's been in a long-term relationship knows that sex and desire wane over time, but there may be a relatively easy way to bring the spark back. 
Anyone who's been in a long-term relationship knows that sex and desire can wane over time, even as you feel more emotionally intimate with the other person.

According to a new study, though, there's a relatively easy way to bring the spark back.

As spotted by Psychology Today, a recent paper in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships examines the concepts of closeness, otherness, and self-expansion — in other words, the emotional intimacy partners feel, the feeling of learning something new about one's partner, and the act of sharing new experiences with a partner.

According to the study, conducted by psychology researchers at Toronto's York University, emotional closeness alone isn't enough to sustain sexual desire in long-term relationships (the median relationship length in the cohorts studied was nine years.) To boost desire, they found, partners need to re-establish otherness, or a psychological distancing that allows them to see their significant other in a new light.

That sense of otherness can be achieved, the Canadian researchers found, via undertaking self-expansion together. Couples can make that happen a number of different ways, from going dancing together or visiting new attractions to probing each others often-unshared opinions about big life issues. Basically, the trick seems to be for couples to insert themselves into novel and challenging situations to regain a sense of freshness.

To be fair, the examples listed in Psychology Today are somewhat normie, which reflects the study's three test subject cohorts, which were overwhelmingly white and straight. But it's not hard to come up with alternative options to fit each individual couple. The "visiting new places" example in particular is ripe with possibility, especially considering the psychological research backing up the widely-believed concept that vacation sex really is better.

One of this paper's authors, York University researcher Amy Muise, also worked on a study last year that found the benefits from self-expansion can be boosted by planning and following through with date ideas. That might sound like a chore, but in practice, per the researchers' findings, it can lead to the feeling of shared newness that gets the fires burning.

While sex and relationships are both topics that vary wildly from person to person, a blueprint for how to navigate relationships after the initial honeymoon phases could be helpful for a range of relationships — and this research-backed advice is so simple, it certainly doesn't hurt to try.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×