Sex, Love and Long Marriages

Too often, the image of long marriages put forth in popular culture is one of passions fading over time, with couples either settling into comfortable but dull companionship, or letting their eyes wander.

But that's wholly inaccurate, according to a new report from the Kinsey Institute, which found that most long marriages are not only happy, but pretty sexy too. Researchers studied 1000+ heterosexual couples between the ages of 40 and 70 in the US, Japan, Brazil, Germany and Spain, with a median relationship length of 25 years.

Here are some of the most interesting findings:

Happiness grows with time, and good sex. Both men and women reported more happiness the longer they had been together, and if they themselves reported high levels of sexual functioning.

Long relationships make men happy. Men reported more relationship happiness in later years, and that happiness was more likely if the man reported being in good health and if it was important to him that his partner experienced orgasm.

Long-term love=sexual satisfaction for women. Women's sexual satisfaction increased over time. Those who had been with their partner for less than 15 years were less likely to report sexual satisfaction, but after 15 years, the percentage went up significantly. 

Cuddling is more important to men. Frequent kissing or cuddling predicted happiness in the relationship for men, but not for women—a surprise to the researchers since it flies in the face of stereotypes.

So, while 50% of marriages end in divorce, those couples that have managed to stay married are pretty happy overall.  Do the results of this study ring true to you?