A new study has found that casual sex is fantastic for you … if you're into that sort of thing. For those who genuinely like it, it can lessen anxiety, and boost both life satisfaction and self esteem. Party! But if that seems like a basic assumption, it's actually not.

A new study has found that casual sex is fantastic for you … if you're into that sort of thing. For those who genuinely like it, it can lessen anxiety, and boost both life satisfaction and self esteem. Party! But if that seems like a basic assumption, it's actually not.

Casual sex has been the constant redheaded stepchild of science up until recently, with the vast majority of studies finding it to be physically and psychologically damaging to everyone, everywhere … so watch the fuck out.  One study even claimed that casual sex increased depression and suicidal tendencies in young men and women.

However, research that has attempted to measure the mental and physical health effects of one-night stands and “fuck buddies” hasn’t been as decisive as one would think. “Past findings on the main effects of casual sex on well-being range from negative to positive with a preponderance of non-significant results,” the new study, led by sex researcher Zhana Vrangalova, explains. In other words, the inconsistencies might mean that the true effect of casual sex is context- and personality-dependent.

On that note, studies that found casual sex to negatively impact health have excluded people who love waking up to a stranger they swore was good looking in the neon light of the Budweiser sign, but now that daylight has revealed their actual facial landscape … maybe not so much. Until now, there's never been a study that included the opinions of people that actually enjoy raucous, self-depreciating sexual misadventures.

Except this one, which looked at baseline sociosexuality as a factor in determining who benefits from casual sex. The study is the first to show that casually fucking your coworker in a circus tent isn't always good, or always bad for those involved; instead, it's entirely dependent on who you are as a person. The benefits you reap have everything to do with your attitude towards casual fucking.

To study this hypothesis, researchers surveyed 371 college students about baseline sociosexuality, then asked about their sexual behavior and psychological well-being over a period of nine months. Oh, and for those of you who aren't currently getting your P.h.D in sexual research, "baseline sociosexuality"  is the personality trait that measures degrees of interest in casual sex.

By the end of the study, 42 percent of subjects reported having sex outside a relationship. When it came to those who were sociosexually unrestricted, aka those who genuinely enjoyed hooking up with sweaty bar folk, having casual sex was associated with higher self-esteem and life satisfaction and lower depression and anxiety.

Additionally, those who enjoyed casual sex felt they were being "authentic" and true to themselves in the process. Not surprisingly, these feelings of authenticity amplified the beneficial psychological effects.

What's more, is that the researchers did not find any negative effects on well-being in those who were sociosexually restricted but had casual sex anyway.

“This study certainly seems to suggest that casual sex can be a good thing for people who are open to it, desire it, and have positive attitudes towards it,” Vrangalova said.

But, keep in mind that the study results don't necessarily imply that casual sex is better than relationship sex, even for unrestricted people. “The vast majority of unrestricted people desire, enjoy, and form relationships; they just also enjoy and desire casual sex," says Vrangalova.

So there you have it, kids! As if the exciting possibility of having to sleep next to someone who snores louder than an airplane engine after they've fucked you like a slightly more enthusiastic dead fish wasn't enough of a reason to butt dial your fuck buddy, this study should convince you beyond return.

So go forth, dear readers, possibly to the untamed waters of Craigslist Casual Encounters, and fuck a stranger tonight, for your health. Alternatively, if that's not your thing, don't. We know you've got a romantic date planned with your hand anyway.