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Does having fewer sexual partners mean a happier marriage?

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An unhappy marriage, according to the findings from this latest study.

The study, which was conducted by the Institute for Family Studies, has found that people who have only had one sexual partner (their spouse) are most likely to have a "happier" marriage. 

READ MORE: Are you likely to get married twice?

According to a previous study which was also conducted by sociologist, Nicholas H Wolfinger, respondents that participated in the study reported a lower rate of divorce when virgins tied the knot. The study also says that women who have ten partners or more are most likely to get a divorce.

However, he goes on to say there is no conclusive evidence that suggests that a person's sexual background is linked to divorce rates.

So relax, even if you've had a million sex partners, there is still a possibility of a happy marriage for you.

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The new study, however, finds that for women particularly, the rate of happiness in a marriage drops as the amount of sexual encounters their partner has had increases. Meaning women would be a lot happier in their marriage if their partners had less sexual partners.

Although there was a significant difference in rates between men and women, with women having a bigger drop in happiness, the study found that men too had a decrease in marital satisfaction when the women they married had a higher number of sexual partners.

But how exactly is the number of sexual partners someone had linked to happier marriage?

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According to Wolfinger, people who choose to save themselves for marriage hold a higher regard for their marriage and therefore find it more satisfying. Meaning they have no other expectations from their marriage then what they get from it, it so to say, is what they thought it would be.

“Those who have never had sex with anyone but their spouse may be the kind of people who value commitment highly,” said Andrew Cherlin, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist. “They have never been interested in sex without commitment, and once married, they may be more committed to their spouses, and therefore happier.”

Another factor is comparisons. People who have been in previous relationships often compare their current partners to previous partners, both romantically and sexually, naturally resulting in unhappiness in marriages.

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So for those of us who've never really valued commitment as much, and thought of sexual relationships as an opportunity for discovery and adventure, our chances of marital happiness does drop ever so slightly.

Personally, I've never had an issue or even an interest in the number of people my partner was with before me and so I don't think marrying someone who's had their fair share of sexual relationships would equate to me feeling unhappy in our relationship.

I spoke to a few more people to find out what their views were when it came to the amount of people their partners have had sexual relationships with to see what they thought about the whole "virgins have happier marriage" study.

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