It seems as though the Chinese royalty had this all figured out long ago. People would be set up in arranged marriages which were agreed upon between families, but it was commonly understood that such marriages were only for convenience and child rearing and everybody was sleeping with the people they wanted to sleep with on the side anyway.

I agree with the study. Married couples are usually too busy doing everything else for their families and themselves to actually set aside time for sex. This is why you hear of couples who have not had sex in a month or even longer. It seems that marriage is about more than just sex.

Then other countries got it right..Thai people, Australians, Tasmanians, many Europeans I met abroad say they live separate lives from their spouses, even take separate vacations, with their friends. Thai friends didn't even live in the same towns with their spouses..husbands lived with parents.

I don’t think anyone thought that marriage improved sexual satisfaction ....did they? Marriage is much more than just sex of course, mutual respect and co-operation being just as important. What long term monogamy provides is a less exciting, but more readily available source of sexual satisfaction. For those who like variety and innovation, it’s obvious that the sameness and predictability of sex with the same person for x number of years is going to produce less satisfaction. This isn’t rocket science is it? Co-habitation itself can be a dampener of sexual desire, we see our partners at their most unglamorous, however, we are always looking our best for our dates when living apart, and the frisson of meeting them again after being apart adds to heighten our sexual experience. Moving in and living together tends to lower that excitement, and that in turn lowers both the rate of sexual intercourse and satisfaction.