From the Bedroom to the Office: Workplace Spillover Effects of Sexual Activity at Home

Abstract

Sexual behavior represents relatively common and mundane home-life behavior, with demonstrated impact on both mood and general physical and psychological well-being. Integrating emergent research on sex and mood with theory on work-life enrichment, we propose a novel model demonstrating the effects of sexual behavior at home on next-day job satisfaction and job engagement as a function of positive affect. Using a 2-week daily diary study of married, employed adults, we found that (a) when employees engaged in sex at home, they reported increased positive affect at work the following day, independent of the effects of marital satisfaction; (b) sex at home increased both daily job satisfaction and daily job engagement as a function of increased positive affect; and (c) daily work-to-family strain-based conflict significantly reduced the likelihood of engaging in sex at home that evening. Accordingly, we extend theory on work-life enrichment by demonstrating the import of seemingly banal behavior on daily work life, with implications for work-life impingement.