One-night-stands have a reputation - and can having too many of them can give you a reputation. But a University of Iowa study suggests that having one-off sex at the end of the night might not be a relationship killer - it's how you handle the situation in the morning that makes the difference.
Sociologist Anthony Paik surveyed adults in Chicago, and concluded that relationships that start with a spark and not much else are not necessarily doomed from the get-go - what matters is how both partners feel about a potential relationship. While the 'average relationship quality' was higher for individuals who waited until things were serious to have sex, early sex was not to blame for the disparity.
Regretting it in the morning? Not necessarily, as a one-night-stand does not necessarily doom a relationship. When Paik factored out people who weren't interested in getting serious, he found no real difference in relationship quality. That is, couples who became sexually involved as friends or acquaintances and were open to a serious relationship ended up just as happy as those who dated and waited.
But it's also possible for true love to emerge if things start off with a more "Sex and the City" approach, when people spot each other across the room, become sexually involved and then build a relationship.
In the study, relationship quality was measured by asking about the extent to which each person loved their partner, the relationship's future, level of satisfaction with intimacy, and how their lives would be different if the relationship ended. The survey also asked when participants became sexually involved with their partners.
