We’ve told you before about various different benefits of having sex. And now, according to George Kenyon university, there’s another one. Sex, according to this research, is capable of giving your life meaning. The research, which is published in Emotion, illustrates a correlation between sex and positive mental health. Great news if it’s been a while since you got some. The researchers asked 152 students to keep a diary for three weeks, documenting their mood, how meaningful their life felt, and any sex they had – including what the quality of sex had been. No surprise to hear that most people reported feeling more positive, happier and like their life had more meaning after they had had sex.
The good news, if you sometimes have to take the tube at rush hour just to feel the touch of another human, is that the sample size is pretty small, and 152 people is more of an indicator than an absolute proof.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that while the quality of the sex (in terms of pleasure) was important, the level of intimacy wasn’t. Those who had gratifying but non intimate sex reported feeling great the next day. Now, we’re not scientists, but doesn’t it sound like the science is saying that for a boost boost you should go out and have yourself some really great sex?
‘Has anyone else noticed how everyone seems to be calling their boyfriends “Daddy” during sex now?,’ a friend asked recently. Yes, we all agreed. It’s all over social media, you can buy t-shirts with the words ‘Daddy’s girl’ or ‘Yes Daddy’ plastered over the front and ‘make her call you Daddy’ seems to have become a synonym for being great in bed.
While Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist and author of Tell Me What You Want, struggles with the same lack of peer-reviewed proof of the increase, he has some clear ideas as to why it might be such a draw: ‘I suspect a big part of the appeal here has to do with the fact that using the “Daddy” label helps to establish a dominant-submissive dynamic,’ he tells Metro.co.uk. ‘More than anything else, It seems that people’s use of this term is tied to a desire to give up some degree of power or control to their partner.
‘The isn’t surprising because in the survey of over 4,000 adults that I performed for Tell Me What You Want, I found that submission was one of the most popular fantasy themes to emerge. ‘In fact, 87% of participants said they’d fantasised about taking on a submissive role during sex. Not only that, but people were more likely to fantasise about submission than dominance, and they fantasised about submission more often, too. ‘
To the extent that people are indeed using the term “Daddy” to refer to their partners more often than they were in the past, this may just reflect increasing comfort with acknowledging an interest in submission.’
So, is there anything wrong with wanting to call your other half Daddy? ‘It’s probably nothing we need to worry about,’ Justin says. ‘While some people might think this is creepy because they associate use of this term with incest fantasies, I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.
‘The popularity of this term says more about the popularity of BDSM interests than anything.’ While Freud was always obsessed with children wanting to have sex with their parents of the opposite gender (the Oedipus complex), experts say it rarely, if ever, has anything to do with it, instead talking about that power dynamic. Despite that, many find the use of the term offensive and/or a huge turnoff, with some going as far as saying those who use the term are ‘weirdos’ As is so often the case with sexual fantasies, it might be a bit weird or confusing and you might not understand why you like it. But as long as both parties are comfortable and consenting, then there’s no reason to waste time feeling guilty.