Secret to happiness: having sex

IF YOU are looking for the secret to a happy retirement, cancel the tickets for that world cruise.

The key to contentment in later life may be as simple as having sex every fortnight. Life is significantly more enjoyable if you have an active love life, according to a study of 7000 people with an average age of 65. For men, having sex at least twice a month can lead to happiness, while women are more interested in kissing and the emotional closeness of sleeping with their partner.

Researchers found older people were far happier if they had made love in the past 12 months, suggesting it could be down to feelings of post-coital bliss or the benefits of the exercise involved.

Lead author Dr Lee Smith, an exercise expert at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said: “There’s a misconception that older people are not interested in sex, but it is important and can reduce their risk of heart problems and early death. We found sex can improve people’s enjoyment of life.

“The findings suggest it is the tenderness and closeness which is more important to women than the sex itself. It is the foreplay and the intimacy driving their enjoyment of life, whereas men seem to want to have sex at least twice a month.”

In the research questionnaires, people’s contentment was measured by asking how strongly they agreed with statements such as “I enjoy the things that I do” and “On balance, I look back on my life with a sense of happiness”. The results show men enjoy their lives less when they are worried about their loss of libido or that they are not having enough sex.

Unlike men, women are not less happy when they are having less sex, but their contentment is increased by feelings of emotional closeness that come from sex, as well as kissing and being touched.