Rubbing One Out Before a First Date Can Be Super Helpful.

Everybody gets nervous before a date. To combat these nerves, some men—myself included—often turn to masturbation to relieve tension. It turns out this isn’t such a bad idea, as a new study colorfully titled “Sex Unleashes Your Tongue” has found that this pre-date ritual might be the best thing to happen to your love life.

Coined “sexual priming,” the study found that even thinking about sex before a date will make one exponentially more sociable and inclined to disclose personal information. Daters will then become more attracted to you when you open up, because this demonstrates your interest in them.

This behavior is then mutually reflected by your date, who in turn will open up, and you’ll both leave the experience with a bounty of knowledge opposed to the usual superficial information, like taste in music (the answer to which is almost always “I like everything”).

“Overall, sex starts a positive cycle of getting closer to a stranger that may eventually build emotional connection between previously unacquainted people,” professor Gurit Birnbaum mentioned of her results, based on a study of 246 heterosexual undergraduates.

To test this theory, some of the students were quickly shown nude images of the opposite sex while others were randomly shown a picture of a fish. Results found that the students who were shown the nude image were more willing to go on a blind date than the image of the fish. Because, duh. Porn is fantasy; when we see it, we’re programmed to want to experience it, not unlike how I tend to rush to Taco Bell every time I see a commercial.

Apparently, this information is enough for researchers to determine that sexual imagery not only fuels our confidence, but also our willingness to open up. Conversely, one could argue that this research also highlights the fact that pictures of fish make us less inclined to open up or go on a blind date, but that doesn’t sound nearly as exciting. Well, unless it’s a sushi date.