Lecture Notes

Sexual intercourse tends to diminish in frequency the longer a couple is married. As couples get older, the frequency drops. Decreased frequency, however, does not necessarily mean that sex is no longer important or that the partnership is unsatisfactory. It may be the result of biological aging and declining sexual drive, or it could be that one or both partners are too tired. For dual-worker families and families with children, stress, financial worries, fatigue, and lack of private time may be the most significant factors in the decline of frequency.   Higher levels of sexual satisfaction and pleasure seem to be found in marriage than in singlehood or extramarital relationships. The lowest rates of satisfaction were among those who were neither married nor living with someone, a group thought to have sex most frequently. Image from McGraw Hill Image Library