People who plan ahead have the best sex, study claims

Researchers found that conscientious individuals benefited from better sexual function

Olivia Petter
Thursday 02 August 2018 12:04 BST
Comments
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

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.

Start practising your formulae.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in