Falling asleep after sex reflects love for partner

Even as proving actual love for one's life partner may remain an unending test for many people, a study has suggested that falling asleep straight after sex could be evidence of greater bonding.

According to a research by evolutionary psychologists at the University of Michigan and Albright College in Pennsylvania, the tendency to fall asleep after sex is associated with greater partner desire for bonding and affection, the Daily Mail reported.

"The more one's partner was likely to fall asleep after sex, the stronger the desire for bonding," said Daniel Kruger, the study's lead author and a research fellow at the University of Michigan.

The study was published in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology.

The research team examined 456 participants who completed anonymous online surveys assessing experiences and desires with one's partner after sex.

Participants then indicated "who falls asleep after sex" and "who falls asleep first when going to bed not after sex". The ones whose partners nodded off immediately after sex had stronger desires for post-coital cuddling and chatting.

"Falling asleep before one's partner may be an unconscious way to foreclose on any commitment conversation after sex," says co-author Susan Hughes, associate professor of psychology at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania.