Economic indicators may be sagging, but erotic indicators appear to be up, up, up–reassuring news to celebrate on Valentine’s Day. The upbeat assessment comes from Susan Quilliam, author of The New Joy of Sex, in a piece published on the BBC’s website. Among the evidence she cites:

• A survey of 20,144 Brits this past November found that sex was “the most popular low-cost activity.”
• Traffic is up in a big way on dating websites such as eHarmony and Match.com
• The gay dating site Manhunt had its biggest one-day surge in membership last September 29–a day when the Dow crashed.
• Sex toy shops around the world report booming business.

At first glance, it may seem counterintuitive that sexual desire should perk up during times of stress and worry. But Quilliam notes a clever 1974 experiment in which men encounter an attractive woman who gives them her telephone number. Males from one group encounter her on a rope bridge 200 feet above a river. The others are on solid ground when she invites them to call. Over 60 percent of the men on the perilously swinging rope bridge called her, the scientists found, versus only 30 percent of those safely on terra firma–suggesting that a sense of anxiety sharpened their erotic interest.

Too much worry and anxiety, of course, can turn off sexual interest, other research shows, and may also affect performance and satisfaction. Couples exhausted from working long hours under a cloud of financial worries may not have much interest in a romp under the covers at the end of a long day. Then again, as the British survey respondents noted, sex offers cheap entertainment–unless, of course, you get stuck picking up the tab for that fancy dinner out on Valentine’s Day.

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: anxiety, sex, Valentine's Day