If you think your partner does not know about if you are actually satisfied after sex, you are fooling yourself - and there is no point faking it in bed either!
A fascinating study has found that men and women are equally perceptive of their partners' levels of sexual satisfaction.
"On average, both men and women have fairly accurate and unbiased perceptions of their partners' sexual satisfaction," said Erin Fallis from department of psychology at University of Waterloo.
"We also found that having good communication about sexual issues helped participants to understand their partners' sexual satisfaction," she added.
However, even if sexual communication was lacking, a person could still be fairly accurate in gauging his or her partner's sexual satisfaction if he or she was able to read emotions well, co-author professor Uzma S. Rehman added.
The study involved 84 couples that were part of a larger study on sexual functioning and satisfaction.
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Fallis separated the partners, asked them to each report on their levels of commitment, relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, sexual communication and measured their emotion recognition abilities.
Couples in a sexual relationship develop what psychologists call a sexual script, which forms guidelines for their sexual activity.
"Over time, a couple will develop sexual routines. We believe that having the ability to accurately gauge each other's sexual satisfaction will help partners to develop sexual scripts that they both enjoy," Fallis commented.
Specifically, being able to tell if their partners are sexually satisfied will help people decide whether to stick with a current routine or try something new.
The findings may help reduce a common stereotype in our culture that women and men have difficulty communicating with and understanding one another.
Having a more accurate understanding of one's partner's sexual satisfaction will have positive impacts for both partners' sexual satisfaction and we're eager to test this idea, the researchers added.
The study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.