Religious men are more satisfied with their sex lives, says British study

A UK study showed that individuals who see religion as important are more satisfied with their sex lives, even though they have less sex.

According to the work, religious people tend to have sex only within relationships that involve love, which can increase satisfaction with the act. On the other hand, casual relationships can be surrounded by more expectations, which can generate frustration.

The work, published in the scientific journal The Journal of Sex Research, was developed by the University of Exeter, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Columbia University, and had 15,162 participants. People under 18 years old, over 60 years old and who did not declare themselves to be heterosexual were excluded from the analysis.

The study evaluated the frequency, satisfaction and quality of sexual life. Satisfaction was measured through a multiple-choice question in which participants marked a score from 1 to 5. Quality of sexual life was measured through 17 questions that assessed physiological, psychological and interpersonal relationship issues.

According to psychologist Darlane Andrade, professor at the Department of Gender Studies and Feminism at UFBA (Federal University of Bahia), the study shows that despite societies becoming less and less religious, this is still an impact factor.

Among the participants, half did not see religion as something important in their lives, a scenario different from that observed during the 1980s, when the proportion of religious Britons reached two thirds of the population.

The relationship between religiosity and sex appeared to be even more important for women. Among married women, those who see religiosity as an important factor in their lives have a better quality of sex life. In men, this difference was not observed.

For the authors, the view of marriage as something sacred by religions, as well as the disapproval of casual sex, may be factors that impact satisfaction.

According to Darlene Andrade, the pressure of religion is greater among women, which represents a reflection of the entire society. While men are encouraged to live a more intense sex life, they are repressed, which may explain this difference. For the professional, even in populations with less gender oppression, such as the British, this is still observed.

In Brazil, the difference between men and women can be even greater, according to the psychologist. For Andrade, despite Brazilians having a more open relationship with sexuality and being more willing to experiment, we still live in a society with very conservative values.

Also according to her, the relationship of Brazilians with religions of African origin, which are less conservative in relation to sex, could also impact the results and would need to be analyzed. According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 3% of the population practice Afro-Brazilian religions, a number that, according to experts, may be underestimated.

Other factors also influenced the study results. The frequency was lower among Asian and black women compared to white women, which the researchers attributed to the stigmas associated with these groups.

People with a higher level of education also had lower frequency and satisfaction with their sex life, possibly due to a higher workload and stress.

The relationship between frequency and sexual satisfaction “is neither simple nor straightforward,” the authors say. According to the data, both individuals who have little sex and those who have a lot of sex are dissatisfied, which suggests that an intermediate frequency is ideal.

Andrada points out, however, that frequency is not the only factor that impacts satisfaction. According to her, pleasure is subjective, involves many individual and societal characteristics, and can be greatly influenced by self-knowledge and the perception of one’s own body.