The not-so-sexy secret to a satisfying marriage

Want to be marriage material? Stop sleeping around.

A new survey from the Institute for Family Studies found that people who have only had sex with their spouses are most likely to say they’re in a “very happy” marriage.

“On average, those who sow their wild oats do not have an advantage in married life,” W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the Institute for Family Studies, tells The Post. “In fact, they are less likely to be hap- pily married.”

Researchers combed through data from the General Social Survey, conducted from 1989 to 2016, and found that 71 percent of men and 64 percent of women who have only slept with their spouse reported satisfaction with their marriage.

By comparison, women who have had six to 10 sexual partners were 13 percent less likely to report marital happiness. As for men, those who had slept with more than 21 partners were about 15 percent less likely to be satisfied in their relationship.

So, do less-experienced brides and grooms not know what they’re missing? Perhaps, says Wilcox.

“Having more partners prior to marriage [could make] you critically evaluate your spouse in light of previous partners,” Wilcox says.

But that’s not necessarily true, points out Johns Hopkins University sociologist Andrew Cherlin. He believes that people who report low premarital sexual encounters and high sexual satisfaction in their marriages may just be more commitment-oriented.

“They have never been interested in sex without commitment, and once married, they may be more committed to their spouses, and therefore happier,” Cherlin told the Atlantic.