Sexuelle Intimität als heilige Erfahrung zu betrachten, ist mit einem höheren Maß an sexueller Befriedigung und Leidenschaft verbunden. Die spirituelle Bedeutung im Schlafzimmer beruht auf der Verbesserung spezifischer Beziehungsgewohnheiten, wie z. B. offener Kommunikation und Präsenz im Moment, und nicht nur auf der Häufigkeit der Intimität.
Psychologists map out the pathways connecting sacred beliefs to better sex
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Viewing sexual intimacy as a sacred experience is linked to higher levels of sexual satisfaction and passion, a newly published psychological study reveals. The research shows that finding spiritual meaning in the bedroom operates by enhancing specific relationship habits, such as open communication and staying present in the moment, rather than just increasing the frequency of intimacy. These findings were published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy.
Psychologists often study how humans create meaning to navigate and enrich their daily lives. One way people construct meaning is through a process called sanctification. This occurs when a person perceives ordinary aspects of life as having a divine character or a deep, sacred significance. While the word sacred might bring traditional religion to mind, researchers note that sanctification is a psychological reality experienced by people both inside and outside of formal faith communities.
When an individual views a part of their life as sacred, they tend to invest extra time and energy into making it flourish. They also tend to use these deeply meaningful areas as an emotional resource during difficult life transitions. In the context of romantic relationships, prior research has shown that viewing sexuality as sanctified is associated with positive outcomes, including higher relationship satisfaction and more enjoyment during intimacy.
Women who held highly sanctified views of their sexual relationship reported more sexual mindfulness and more open communication. They also reported higher intercourse frequency and greater orgasmic consistency. For women, open communication was the strongest mechanism linking a sacred viewpoint to overall sexual satisfaction. Taking a spiritual view of intimacy seemed to make women much more willing or able to communicate their needs.
Experiencing a predictable climax and practicing sexual mindfulness were the next strongest pathways for the women studied. Notably, while sexual sanctification was linked to having sex more often, simply having more sex did not reliably predict higher sexual satisfaction for women. Instead, the emotional and physical quality of the interactions carried the weight of their satisfaction
For the male participants, the psychological links looked very different. For men, viewing sex as sacred was only reliably associated with having sex more frequently. The belief did not directly connect to how well they communicated, how mindful they were during intimacy, or how consistently they reached an orgasm.
Instead, the factors that actually predicted sexual satisfaction for men were their practical communication habits and their organizational religious routines, such as attending worship services. It appears that the abstract concept of sexual sanctification does not alter specific bedroom habits for men in the same way it does for women. The behavioral and community aspects of general religion may be more central to influencing how men experience intimacy.
For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2593329
‘While the word sacred might bring traditional religion to mind, researchers note that sanctification is a psychological reality experienced by people both inside and outside of formal faith communities.’
This might be true, but my first thought was what is the sample composition. Unfortunately, only the abstract is available.
The religion angle makes this feel kind of limited. If your framework tells you that sex within a sacred context is meaningful and good, you’re more likely to code your experience as satisfying regardless of what actually happened physiologically or emotionally. The sanctification variable might just be measuring how well someone’s experience conforms to their own prior expectations, which feels kind of redundant, beyond maybe a couple’s counselor knowing how some people they see view sex.
Even reading it, I still don’t understand how to perceive anything as „sacred“ as a non-religious person who doesn’t believe in the concept of sanctity.
Nothing like a pious nut.
Interesting. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say people who are into BDSM are enjoying sex the most. Because they have this entire world right next to vanilla that can get creative in countless ways.
Man this explains exactly zero of the middle aged fundamentalist couples I know, who across the board seem to occupy sexless, contemptuous relationships.
We’ve found doing unholy things extremely satisfying as well.
I think some here are overthinking the concept of sanctity as being a religious thing. I’m completely non religious and atheist but I can still grasp the concept of some things being sacred. Life is pretty sacred to me.
And I don’t think valuing sexual intimacy has to be exclusive to something religious or spiritual. I think of it as a bond between two people. I’m very much left leaning so I don’t buy into the purity and chastity culture of the right but at the same time I also don’t buy into the whole sex as recreational meaningless fun that I’m seeing a lot of from the left. I personally think there’s a sane middle ground on this specific topic.
I think the use of the word “sacred”, both in the study itself, and in the discussion of the study results, can be off putting for some people due to its connection with religion and theism. It’s possible that using a loaded word like this with study participants also influenced the results in such a way that negatively affected its accuracy; if so the study was poorly designed. A more effective word, or series of words, to use might have been something like: profound, empathetic, emotionally gratifying, or healing. The word “sacred” is really just trying to get at the real-world impact of viewing sex more holistically, as a container for personal growth, and a felt sense of communion with another human being somehow transcending the physical senses.
We are ritualistic and need rituals in our day to day basis
Swap sacred for “respected” or “serious” and you get the point without it being sensationalist trash.
Go figure that people that value sex more get more satisfaction from it, who knew that’s how human brains worked?
Sex is sacred. It creates life
I had an intense romance last year where my partner and I fell deeply in love with each other. Sex with her did feel sacred and spiritual, and casual sex has been very difficult since we broke up.
Ah, yes, the „Hozier Principle.“
From an author at BYU in Utah in The School of Family Life where they are also providing research such as: Acting in faith while hoping for marriage and The Power of home centered gospel learning.
Oh. Only for the hetero peeps. I see.
I’m pretty sure this will be one of those non-replicatable studies because of the author’s ideas of what “sacred” and “spiritual” is. Dropping homosexual couples is a pretty big red flag for me.
For instance; feeding the poor is a sacred act yet not exclusive, bibles are sacred yet they are freely given, churches also spread their religion far and wide.
Admittedly I see a shrink. One of the best in my area. Very well connected with the phyche science community. She and her accredited peers would scoff at this. I’m going to run it by her today, and I expect no different as a response. C’mon guys
The only thing in this world that is truly priceless
I’m an atheist and sex is absolutely sacred to me.
The only thing in this world that is truly priceless
The people who don’t understand how sex can be „spiritual and sacred“ without religion haven’t had sex on acid…