Working Paper: NBER ID: w10499
Authors: David G. Blanchflower; Andrew J. Oswald
Abstract: This paper studies the links between income, sexual behavior and reported happiness. It uses recent data on a random sample of 16,000 adult Americans. The paper finds that sexual activity enters strongly positively in happiness equations. Greater income does not buy more sex, nor more sexual partners. The typical American has sexual intercourse 2-3 times a month. Married people have more sex than those who are single, divorced, widowed or separated. Sexual activity appears to have greater effects on the happiness of highly educated people than those with low levels of education. The happiness-maximizing number of sexual partners in the previous year is calculated to be 1. Highly educated females tend to have fewer sexual partners. Homosexuality has no statistically significant effect on happiness. Our conclusions are based on pooled cross-section equations in which it is not possible to correct for the endogeneity of sexual activity. The statistical results should be treated cautiously.
Keywords: happiness; income; sexual behavior; well-being
JEL Codes: I1; J3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| greater sexual activity (I19) | reported happiness (I31) |
| income (E25) | happiness (I31) |
| income (E25) | frequency of sexual activity (C41) |
| income (E25) | number of sexual partners (J12) |
| more than one sexual partner (J12) | happiness (I31) |
| homosexual activity (P37) | happiness (I31) |