How Do the Frequency of Sexual Intercourse and the Division of Housework Relate to Happiness?

Abstract

Previous studies have overlooked the complex associations between sexual intercourse and the division of housework in relation to happiness and marital satisfaction, despite the significance of both factors. Additionally, such studies have often relied on cross-sectional analyses without accounting for unobserved heterogeneity among individuals. This study examines whether the frequency of sexual intercourse and the division of housework are jointly associated with happiness, using marriage-episode fixed-effects models. This study uses data from the Reflection Survey on Family History 2022 conducted in Japan. The results suggest that women’s happiness is positively associated with the frequency of sexual intercourse. However, the positive association between sexual frequency and happiness was weaker when housework was shared approximately equally than when women performed 90% of the housework. These interaction terms were concentrated among women with egalitarian gender-role attitudes and among employed women. These findings suggest that the positive association between the frequency of sexual intercourse and happiness may weaken when housework is shared equally, pointing to a complex interplay between these two factors. This study underscores the importance of examining both sexual intercourse and the division of housework when analyzing factors associated with happiness.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2026 · DOI ↗