Married couples who regularly attend church report more frequent sex and greater satisfaction with their sex lives than married couples who rarely or never attend, according to a new report from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The report draws on multiple datasets: the 2026 IFS Religion and Family Survey of 3,125 married adults ages 18-54, the long-running General Social Survey, and a separate survey of 1,219 alumni of FOCUS, a Catholic campus ministry. Among married adults ages 20 to 54, 62% of regular churchgoers reported having sex at least once a week, compared with 48% of nonreligious spouses. The gap held even after researchers accounted for demographic differences between groups.
Regularly attending Catholics reported some of the highest levels of sexual frequency among any group studied. Satisfaction followed a similar pattern: 55% of churchgoing Catholics and 45% of churchgoing Protestants rated their sex lives as “excellent” or “very good,” compared with 45% of nominal Catholics, 35% of nominal Protestants and 40% of religiously unaffiliated respondents.
Daily prayer was tied to higher sexual satisfaction among married Catholics and Protestants, though it wasn’t linked to having sex more often. Married adults who viewed marriage as a permanent commitment, and who shared values with their spouse, were more likely to report both frequent and satisfying sex, as well as stronger overall marriage quality.
The study was funded by FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Its authors note the research is observational — it cannot prove that religious practice causes better marital or sexual outcomes. The data relied on self-reporting, and other unmeasured differences between religious and non-religious respondents could have affected the results. Differences in age and length of marriage among respondents also complicate comparisons with the general population.
What a therapist makes of it
Jessica Steinman, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified sex addiction therapist based in Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital the findings cut against a common assumption.
“When we think of people who are really involved in religion … we might think they’re not having a lot of sex or that they’re having very constricted views on their sex lives,” she said. “And this article and research show that’s changing.”
Steinman, who is also chief clinical officer for No Matter What Recovery, with locations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Austin, said couples who share a spiritual or religious practice may feel more connected to each other as partners.
“If they’re showing up and looking at things outside themselves — things that are spiritual, things that are religious, things are having them look inward, things that are having them look into larger morals and values within their marriages and partnerships — I think they’re going to possibly have happier marriages and partnerships,” she said.
She added that couples in these settings may also be more vulnerable and open with each other, which could help explain a more active sex life. Shared rituals, she said, play a role too.
“Certain religious settings are really focused on rituals and traditions,” Steinman said. “And if you’re looking at partnership and marriage … engaging in sexual connection and sexual intimacy can really become a ritual itself.”
The researchers situated the findings within what’s been called an ongoing “sex recession,” a broader decline in sexual activity across the population. Regardless of religious background, Steinman urged couples to put down their devices and build real connection.
“Get off the phones, get off of the internet, turn the TV off and start really connecting with your partner,” she said.
She encouraged partners to go beyond routine check-ins like “How was your day?” and instead build emotional openness, including direct conversation about how they want to connect sexually.
