Key to finding a committed man is in his pillow talk, study finds

By
Tamara Cohen

Last updated at 12:24 AM on 24th January 2012

It is easy to dismiss as just sweet nothings, but the key to relationship happiness may be in your pillow talk.

Scientists have found that women whose partners finish off a night of passion by immediately turning over and nodding off are left feeling insecure and craving affection.

Psychologists at the University of Michigan said cuddling and talking after sex is a crucial way for a couple to express their commitment to each other.

Sweet dreams: A study has shown that falling asleep straight after sex is a sign of true love

Scientists have found that women whose
partners finish off a night of passion by immediately
nodding off are left feeling insecure and craving affection

In relationship terms, they say it could be just as important as what happens before sex, or even the act itself.

They questioned 456 heterosexual people, who completed online surveys about their sleep patterns with their partner.

Lead author Dr Daniel Kruger said they found the participants’ desire for emotional bonding, affection and communication was greatest when their partner fell asleep first.

This was found in both men and women but a wealth of previous studies have shown men invariably fall asleep first.

Dr Kruger said: ‘When their partner feel asleep first, they craved that bonding time, for expressions of affection and endearment, and felt it was lacking.

‘A woman could be pregnant. Although with contraception that may not be the case anymore, we still have this psychology, and the post-coital time is when the couple makes promises to each other and establish commitment.

‘The time couples spend together after sex might be as important as what happens before it in terms of building the relationship yet it has rarely been studied.’

The team from the University of Michigan found pillow talk could be just as important as what happens before sex, or even the act itself

The team from the University of Michigan found pillow talk could be just as important as what happens before sex, or even the act itself

While this study did not confirm that
men were more likely to fall asleep first, he said two of his previous
studies and other research suggested it was true.

A
study last year linked this to production of the hormones oxytocin and
prolactin which create a sedative, or ‘roll over and snore’ effect in
men after making love.

Pugh cartoon

But Dr Kruger and his co-author Susan Hughes of Albright College in Pennsylvania believe there are evolutionary as well as chemical reasons for it.

They suggest falling asleep before their partner may be a non-conscious way for men to ‘foreclose’ any conversations about commitment.

This is just what their wives and girlfriends crave, they say, as women have more highly developed language skills.

Dr Kruger added: ‘For men, in evolutionary terms there’s more of an incentive to have other sexual partners to advance their reproductive success whereas for women there is more incentive to secure the relationship.’

While men with ‘attachment avoidance’ were less inclined to pillow talk after sex, women with ‘attachment anxiety’ were most upset about it, they found.

Women rated sleeping alongside the partner as more important than men, which the researchers suggested could be ‘an anti-philandering strategy’ to decrease their chance of being left for someone else.

In contrast men reported that women were more likely to nod off first if they went to bed without having sex.

This could be out of a primitive desire to ‘guard their mate’, or they could just be hoping they would change their mind, the study noted.  It was published in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary and Cultural Psychology.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

Do we really need a study to tell us whats right ?? Surely doing what comes naturally and what works for you as a couple is far more important! Does anyone actually react to these articles and change ?

“…..falling asleep before their partner may be a non-conscious way for men to ‘foreclose’ any conversations about commitment.” BINGO! Got it in one!

Make your mind up. Only the other day there was a similar article on saying falling asleep after sex shows a couple is in love?! Ridiculous stories.

It takes research to find this out???????

– Clive Burghard, Southern England, ++++++++Don’t be down chap, just get yourself along to a massage parlour. Plenty about. ps They advertise on vivastreet since the Sunday Sport went under – Joe B., Ecosse ****** Like he’d take advice from a creepy, little misogynist like you who has zero respect for women.

An Australian friend of mine had the ultimate rejection,when alone abusing and amusing himself.even his hand went to sleep.How are you keeping Titanic

Wife comes home late at night and quietly opens the door to her Bedroom
From under the blanket she sees four legs instead of two.
She reaches for a Baseball Bat and starts hitting the blanket as hard as she
can. Once she’s done, she goes to the kitchen to have a drink.
As she enters, she sees her husband there, reading a magazine.
“Hi Darling”, he says, “Your parents have come to visit us, so l let them stay in our bedroom. Hope you said Hello to them..”

DM has gone schizo (not that there ever was any doubt about that). The lead-in headline to the article is “Falling asleep after sex is a good thing because it shows you are in love, says study” but the article headline itself is “Key to finding a committed man is in his pillow talk, study finds”. So which is it DM: go to sleep or bore her to death with idle chatter? I suspect that it is sweet talk her into sex and then fall asleep in her arms. Poor DM (ie Tamara Cohen) probably just couldn’t keep up and got flummoxed.

This article was named something completely different earlier. How bizarre.

You’re hoping the woman falls asleep so that you can sneak out without paying.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes