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Stress, Fatigue, and Sexual Spontaneity Among Married Couples in a High-Stress Society: Evidence from Sex Diary Data from Singapore

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Abstract

This paper investigates the associations between stress and fatigue and sexual spontaneity among heterosexual married couples in Singapore, a high-income society with high work performance expectations and long working hours. Data on self-reported menstrual dates, sexual activity within the marriage, and stress and fatigue levels were collected from 657 married women aged 25–34 years through biweekly online diaries over 14 weeks. Using a two-way fixed effects logistic model which controlled for time-invariant individual fixed effects and menstrual cycle fixed effects, the paper tests three hypotheses: (1) sexual activity is significantly lower on weekdays compared to weekends and public holidays, (2) sexual activity is significantly lower during periods when women reported higher stress and fatigue, and (3) stress and fatigue are more predictive of sexual activity during weekdays than during weekends. Frequencies of marital sexual intercourse during the diary keeping period were 3.69 and 2.55 per 30 days among women aged 25–29 and 30–34 years, respectively, much lower than ideal frequencies of 6.40 and 5.23. Consistent with all three hypotheses, there was a strong positive weekend effect and a weak but positive public holiday effect, and strong negative effects of both stress and fatigue, especially during weekdays. There was no evidence of compensatory sex on weekends to make up for hectic workweeks. Increased support for work-life balance can contribute to more spontaneous marital sex lives and may reduce underachievement of ideals for sexual intimacy and childbearing in Singapore.

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Funding

This project was supported by the Start-Up Grant from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore [R-603-000-190-133]. The sponsor had no involvement in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the articles; and in the decision to submit it for publication.

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  1. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 259772, Singapore

    Poh Lin Tan

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  1. Poh Lin Tan
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Correspondence to Poh Lin Tan.

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The questionnaire and methodology for this study were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National University of Singapore (Ethics Approval Number: N-17–048).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tan, P.L. Stress, Fatigue, and Sexual Spontaneity Among Married Couples in a High-Stress Society: Evidence from Sex Diary Data from Singapore. Arch Sex Behav 50, 2579–2588 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01848-y

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