Put down those magazines and stop comparing your love life to that of
A-listers.
Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian often talk about their
own sexual exploits, with the reality TV star previously giving her own sexual
exploits with Kanye West a 'five-star rating'.
But new research suggests that just believing someone, even
your own friend has a spicier time than you do beneath the sheets can damage
your libido.
However, the findings only ring true for those who suffer from sexual
narcissism the excessive need for sexual validation, experts claim.
So, as long as you don't expect sexual favours in return for
buying gifts, your relationship won't be affected, scientists say.
Researchers from the University of Toronto
Mississauga assessed how people make comparisons
to others in terms of their sex lives.
Most are curious about the sexual lives of others, but
sexual narcissism heavily affects their views, they found.
They are very susceptible to comparisons with others,
regardless of whether it was friends, colleagues or magazine articles.
They often made comparisons that made their sexual lives
look better, the study published in the Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin found.
However, when they felt they were getting less action than
someone else, they became dissatisfied with their relationship.
And this lack of satisfaction is widely known to decrease
the libido of both men and women. In contrast, those who had a low degree of sexual narcissism weren't affected
by any of the comparisons.
Study author Lisa Day said: 'People are curious about the sexuality of others
and make comparisons that impact how they feel about their own relationships.
'Individuals with a high degree of sexual narcissism tend to
make comparisons with those who are less sexually skilled, for example.
'When they do make comparisons with someone doing better
than they were, it gets under their skin.'
But she pointed out their findings shouldn't be confused
with general narcissistic personality traits.
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This comes after research last month found that refraining
from having sex could help people to live longer than others.
The University of Sheffield study offered an explanation as
to why nuns - who stay away from the act completely tend to live longer.