Married adults who regularly attend church report having sex more frequently and experiencing greater sexual satisfaction than married people who attend religious services less often or have no religious affiliation, according to a new report by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS).

The report, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, found that 62% of regular churchgoers aged 20 to 54 said they had sex at least once a week, compared with 48% of nonreligious spouses.

Regular religious attendance was also associated with higher levels of sexual satisfaction. Among married Catholics and Protestants who regularly attended religious services, 55% of Catholics and 45% of Protestants described their sex lives as “excellent” or “very good.”

By comparison, the figures were 45% among nominal Catholics, 35% among nominal Protestants and 40% among religiously unaffiliated respondents.

The researchers also found that regular church attendance was associated with greater sexual frequency after demographic differences were taken into account, with regularly attending Catholics recording some of the highest levels of sexual activity.

Prayer appeared to have a different relationship with married couples’ sex lives. Daily prayer was associated with greater sexual satisfaction among married Catholics and Protestants but was not linked to having sex more frequently.

The report further identified attitudes towards marriage as an important factor in both sexual and marital outcomes. Married people who regarded marriage as a permanent commitment were more likely to report having frequent and satisfying sex, while that belief and shared values were also strongly associated with overall marital quality.

For the analysis, researchers examined data from several sources, including the 2026 IFS Religion and Family Survey involving 3,125 married adults aged 18 to 54, the nationally representative General Social Survey and a separate survey of 1,219 alumni of FOCUS, a Catholic campus ministry.

However, the researchers cautioned against interpreting the findings as proof that religious practice directly causes better sexual or marital outcomes.

The analysis was observational, meaning it identified associations rather than establishing a direct cause-and-effect relationship. The authors also noted that the marital outcomes were self-reported and that differences between religious and non-religious respondents that were not measured could have affected the results.

Differences in respondents’ ages and the length of their marriages could also complicate comparisons with the wider population.

The study was funded by FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. (Nigerian Tribune)

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