[DIV id=headline] [H2]Canadians happier in the bedroom than Americans[/H2]
[DIV id=author] [P class=byline]JILL MAHONEY
[P class=source]From Thursday's Globe and Mail
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[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] Canadians are more sexually satisfied than Americans, but Austrians and Spaniards are happiest in the bedroom, according to new research.
The study -- which is billed as the first of its kind to compare sexual behaviour and satisfaction worldwide among people over 40 -- found people in countries with gender equality are most likely to report being content with their sex lives.
"In the male-dominated regimes, women are very subordinated. They're not expected to be seeking pleasure or to enjoy sex," lead author Edward Laumann, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago, said in an interview.
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The research, which is published in the current edition of the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, found residents of Japan and Taiwan were the least satisfied with sex. People in Turkey, Egypt and Algeria fell in the middle.
Canadians ranked third, with 66.1 per cent of those surveyed reporting being sexually satisfied. Americans were fifth, with 64.2 per cent saying they were content.
"Who's going to fight over [a few] points?" Prof. Laumann said with a laugh.
The study, which also found that the majority of middle-aged people and senior citizens with partners remained sexually active in most countries surveyed, concluded that sexual well-being is strongly correlated with overall happiness for men and women. However, men generally said they were substantially more sexually satisfied than women.
The study measured subjective sexual well-being in 29 countries by phone, in-person interviews or written surveys with 27,500 men and women from ages 40 to 80 between 2001 and 2002. (The paper notes the different interview formats and low response rates are a limitation of the study, which was funded by Pfizer, maker of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.)
Edward Herold, a professor emeritus in the department of family relations and applied nutrition at the University of Guelph, called the study's international focus on older people "quite an achievement" and said sexuality in the second half of life is being taken more seriously.
"The baby boomers are bringing a, let's call it, revitalized attitude towards sexuality, where they're not content to just sit in a rocking chair and watch the world go by," he said, adding with a chuckle, "If they're sitting in a rocking chair, I guess they want their partner to be in the rocking chair with them."
In relationships based on equality, couples tend to focus on each other's sexual pleasure, said Prof. Laumann, who is considered a top authority on the sociology of sex. However, in male-centred cultures where reproduction is seen as the main purpose of sex, there is less foreplay because women's enjoyment is often not deemed important and many women consider sex a duty.
Respondents, who came from a variety of religious backgrounds, were asked how important sex is to them and how physically or emotionally satisfying their relationships are. They were also asked about their overall happiness, health and their attitudes on sex.
It was good for them: Percentage of people who report sexual satisfaction
The top ten [TBODY] Austria71.4%Spain69.0Canada66.1Belgium64.6United States64.2Australia63.6Mexico63.2Germany62.0Sweden60.5United Kingdom59.8[/TBODY]
The bottom five [TBODY] Thailand35.9%China34.9Indonesia34.0Taiwan28.7Japan25.8[/TBODY]
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