Dr. Linda Helps - Religious women are often depicted as prudes and sexually repressed but this couldn't be farther from the truth. "Church ladies", as former Saturday Night Live comedian Dana Carvey used to call us, are a sexually satisfied group of women who on objective measures of sexual responsiveness score high!

For years, researchers have been studying the link between religion and spirituality. You might be surprised by the results. Then again, if you are a church lady, the research only confirms what you may already know.

Several years ago, University of Chicago researchers released the results of a very comprehensive sex study. Their study confirmed what prior studies reported that religious women who regularly attend church report higher levels of sexual satisfaction with their married partners than nonreligious women.

What is their secret? The reasons may surprise you:

1) The lack of sexual experience prior to marriage is beneficial. A church lady who comes to marriage with little sexual baggage is more satisfied with her marital sexual relationship than someone who has been sexual active prior to marriage and may have had multiple partners.

2) The commitment to life-long marriage and permanence enhances church ladies' sexual freedom and satisfaction. Sexual responsiveness for women depends on a strong and communicative relationship with their spouses. Church ladies are more likely to communicate their sexual needs and be freer with sex because of the covenantal nature of marriage.

3) Common fears associated with sexual promiscuity are absent. We know that sexual anxiety negatively affects sexual satisfaction when it comes to women and sex. Church ladies can relax and enjoy more freedom because they typically don't have to worry about AIDS and other serious sexual concerns.

4) Church ladies have less guilt about sexual standards. A University of Connecticut study found church ladies free from guilt about violating sexual standards. Guilt inhibits sexual satisfaction and is found at higher levels among nonreligious college age women.

5) Church ladies don't see sexual satisfaction as the major factor of marital happiness. Sexual enjoyment is the by-product of a happy and fulfilled marriage, not the cause of it.

6) Church ladies believe God created sex. Sex is not viewed as a physical, technical act to be mastered. It is seen as something Godly, spiritual and bringing two into the union of one. Sex as God created it is celebrated in the in the Bible in the Song of Solomon and other passages.

So the next time you hear someone talk about those sexually repressed church ladies. Just smile. If comedian Dana Carvey only knew the truth, he'd be shouting, "Now isn't that special?" for a very different reason.

Dr. Mintle – author, professor, Approved Supervisor and Clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy – is a speaker and media personality, as well as a licensed clinical social worker with over twenty years in psychotherapy practice.

For more articles and information, visit Dr. Linda Mintle's Web site.