Editing Human sexual activity (section)

==Psychological aspects==
{{See also|Sexology}}
Sexual activity can lower blood pressure and overall stress levels.<ref name="SSM">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20dODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA164|title=The Science of Stress Management: A Guide to Best Practices for Better Well-Being|isbn=978-1538101216|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|last=Dasgupta|first=Amitava|date=2018|page=164}}</ref> It serves to release tension, elevate mood, and possibly create a profound sense of relaxation, especially in the postcoital period. From a biochemical perspective, sex causes the release of [[oxytocin]] and endorphins and boosts the immune system.<ref name="SSM"/>

===Motivations===
{{anchor|Reasons_for_sexual_activity}}
{{Redirect|Pity sex|the American rock band|Pity Sex}}
People engage in sexual activity for any of a multitude of possible reasons. Although the primary evolutionary purpose of sexual activity is reproduction, research on college students suggested that people have sex for four general reasons: ''physical attraction'', as a ''means to an end'', to increase ''emotional connection'', and to ''alleviate insecurity''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Meston|first1=Cindy M.|last2=Buss|first2=David M.|date=2007-07-24|title=Why Humans Have Sex|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-007-9175-2|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|language=en|volume=36|issue=4|pages=477–507|doi=10.1007/s10508-007-9175-2|pmid=17610060|s2cid=6182053|issn=0004-0002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Meston|first1=Cindy M.|last2=Kilimnik|first2=Chelsea D.|last3=Freihart|first3=Bridget K.|last4=Buss|first4=David M.|date=2020-02-17|title=Why Humans Have Sex: Development and Psychometric Assessment of a Short-Form Version of the YSEX? Instrument|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2019.1654581|journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy|volume=46|issue=2|pages=141–159|doi=10.1080/0092623X.2019.1654581|issn=0092-623X|pmid=31482764|s2cid=201831919}}</ref>

Most people engage in sexual activity because of pleasure they derive from the [[sexual arousal|arousal of their sexuality]], especially if they can achieve [[orgasm]]. Sexual arousal can also be experienced from [[foreplay]] and flirting, and from [[Sexual fetishism|fetish]] or BDSM activities,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_1_18/ai_80957472 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526192917/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_1_18/ai_80957472 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-05-26 | title=Improve your orgasm: you may have thought your sexual pleasure was the one thing that couldn't get any better. Think again&nbsp;— Sexual Fitness&nbsp;— physiology | year=2002 | work=Men's Fitness}}</ref> or other [[Eroticism|erotic activities]]. Most commonly, people engage in sexual activity because of the [[sexual desire]] generated by a person to whom they feel [[sexual attraction]]; but they may engage in sexual activity for the physical satisfaction they achieve in the absence of attraction for another, as in the case of [[Casual sex|casual or social sex]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/casual%20sex|title=Casual sex - Define Casual sex at Dictionary.com|work=Dictionary.com|access-date=25 December 2014}}</ref> At times, a person may engage in a sexual activity solely for the sexual pleasure of their partner, such as because of an obligation they may have to the partner or because of love, sympathy or [[pity]] they may feel for the partner.

A person may engage in sexual activity for purely monetary considerations, or to obtain some advantage from either the partner or the activity. A man and woman may engage in sexual intercourse with the objective of [[Human fertilization|conception]]. Some people engage in hate sex which occurs between two people who strongly dislike or annoy each other. It is related to the idea that opposition between two people can heighten [[sexual tension]], attraction and interest.<ref name=Holbrook1972 >{{Cite book | last=Holbrook | first=David | year=1972 | title=The masks of hate: the problem of false solutions in the culture of an acquisitive society | publisher=Pergamon Press | page=118 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWYIAQAAIAAJ | isbn=978-0-08-015799-3}}</ref>

==== Self-determination theory ====
Research has found that people also engage in sexual activity for reasons associated with [[self-determination theory]]. The self-determination theory can be applied to a sexual relationship when the participants have positive feelings associated with the relationship, not from the social pressures of their partner, but ''intrinsically motivated'' to engage in intercourse on their own accord. These participants do not feel guilty or coerced into the partnership.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Knee C.R. |author2=Lonsbary C. |author3=Canevello A. |author4=Patrick H. | year = 2005 | title = Self-determination and conflict in romantic relationships | journal = J Pers Soc Psychol | volume = 89 | issue = 6| pages = 997–1009 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.997 |pmid=16393030 |s2cid=15591625 }}</ref> Researchers have proposed the model of self-determined sexual motivation. The purpose of this model is to connect self-determination and sexual motivation.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013">{{cite journal |author1=Brunell A.B. |author2=Webster G.D. | year = 2013 | title = Self-Determination and Sexual Experience in Dating Relationships | journal = Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin | volume = 39 | issue = 7| pages = 970–987 | doi = 10.1177/0146167213485442 |pmid=23613122 |s2cid=25173666 }}</ref> This model has helped to explain how people are sexually motivated when involved in self-determined dating relationships. This model also links the positive outcomes, (satisfying the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) gained from sexual motivations.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" />

According to the completed research associated with this model, it was found that people of both sexes who engaged in sexual activity for self-determined motivation had more positive psychological well-being.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" /> While engaging in sexual activity for self-determined reasons, the participants also had a higher need for fulfillment. When this need was satisfied, they felt better about themselves. This was correlated with greater closeness to their partner and higher overall satisfaction in their relationship.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" /> Though both sexes engaged in sexual activity for self-determined reasons, there were some differences found between males and females. It was concluded that females had more motivation than males to engage in sexual activity for self-determined reasons.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" /> Females also had higher satisfaction and relationship quality than males did from the sexual activity.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" /> Overall, research concluded that psychological well-being, sexual motivation, and sexual satisfaction were all positively correlated when dating couples partook in sexual activity for self-determined reasons.<ref name="Brunell, A.B. 2013" />

==== Human connection ====
According to Havelock Ellis, a fulfilling marriage is one that possesses both the "art of love" and "science of procreation".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=Havelock |title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume VI, Sex in Relation to Society |publisher=Philadelphia : F.A. Davis Co. |year=1921 |pages=508 |language=English}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=Without the factor of mutual love the proper conditions for procreation cannot exist; without the factor of procreation the sexual union, however beautiful and sacred a relationship it may in itself be, remains, in essence, a private relationship, incomplete as a marriage and without public significance.|author=Havelock Ellis (1921)|title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume VI, Sex in Relation to Society, p. 508}}
Ellis states that a genuine and mutual connection to the other is needed for proper sexual intercourse. However, if the marriage lacks procreation, the relationship may lack understanding between partners and become superficial. Love is believed to have a nurturing aspect and is not wholly determined by instinct. "They believe, no art of love to be either learnt or taught; it comes by nature. Nothing could be further from the truth, most of all as regards civilized man.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=Havelock |title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume VI, Sex in Relation to Society |publisher=Philadelphia : F.A. Davis Co. |year=1921 |pages=510 |language=English}}</ref>" The role of love has a direct impact on proper sexual intercourse, which shares many similarities to the principles of marriage and thus a fulfilling happiness beyond the act of procreation.
{{Blockquote|text=The art of love certainly includes such primary facts of sexual hygiene, but it involves also the whole erotic discipline of marriage, and that is why its significance is so great, for the welfare and happiness of the individual, for the stability of sexual unions, and indirectly for the race, since the art of love is ultimately the art of attaining the right conditions for procreation.|author=Havelock Ellis (1921)|title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume VI, Sex in Relation to Society, p. 511}}