To all the men out there who try to get out of doing housework: you might want to think again. A new study suggests men who do their share of the household chores engage in better and more frequent sex with their spouse.

Share on Pinterest Men who do their fair share of the housework may benefit from a better sex life.

Study coauthor Dr. Matt Johnson, a family ecology professor in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta in Canada, and colleagues recently published their findings in the Journal of Family Psychology.

The team’s findings oppose those of a study reported by Medical News Today in 2013, which suggested husbands who help out with what are deemed traditionally female household chores – such as doing the laundry or washing the dishes – have less sex than those who leave all the chores to their wives.

In addition, the study found no association between the amount of housework a man did and the sexual functioning between them and their partner.

“[That study] didn’t ring true,” says Dr. Johnson. “It didn’t fit with my intuition and background experiences as a couple’s therapist.”

To reinvestigate the association between housework and sex, the researchers reviewed the data of 1,338 couples who were part of the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (Pairfam) project.

Each male partner was asked about the amount of housework they did, what chores they did, and whether they perceived their housework contributions to be fair.

The frequency of sex among each couple and each partner’s sexual satisfaction were assessed 1 year later.