Gone are the commonplace ideas of boosting intimacy. A study by family ecology professor Dr Matt Johnson of the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta found, instead, that the frequency and satisfaction level of a couple's sex life is directly down to the equal sharing of housework between men and women. These findings were published in the paper 'Skip the Dishes? Not so Fast! Sex and Housework Revisited'.
The study based its data on the observation of 1,338 German couples across a period of five years. Among its main findings is the indication that the amount of housework that the male partner takes on is not at all related to the couple's sexual enjoyment.
This finding, in fact, contradicts the frequently referenced 2012 study Egalitarianism, Housework, and Sexual Frequency in Marriage by the American Sociological Review. This previous study points to the detriment of sex when a man assumes any of the traditional female housework such as cooking, doing the laundry and cleaning the dishes.
Dr. Johnson explains that this is not the case at all. "The study didn't ring true."
"It didn't fit with my intuition and background experiences as a couple's therapist.
He also addresses the issue of cultural difference between the US and Germany that may arise as a point of comparison between the two studies.
"There are cultural differences but if the logic held from the prior studies, we would have expected to have a more pronounced negative impact of housework on sexuality in Germany because it's a bit more traditional. But that wasn't the case at all."
Rather than taking away from it, the ability to equally split housework between the man and the woman evidently enhanced their ability to frequently and satisfactorily engage in sexual intimacy.
"In any relationship, the amount of housework is going to mean something different based on the couple's context."
"Based on their own expectations for what each partner should be doing, and their comparison levels of what happens with other couples they know."
