New couples who wait to have sex experience longer lasting relationships than those who jump straight into bed together on the first date, a new study has found. Researchers at the Brigham Young University, who studied a sample of almost 11,000 unmarried people, discovered a direct correlation between the length and strength of a partnership and the amount of time they took to have first have sex, the Daily Mail reported.

Those who waited to initiate sexual intimacy were found to have longer and more positive outcomes in their relationships while those who couldn’t help themselves reported that their dalliances struggled to last more than two years.

The study examined four sexual-timing patterns: Having sex prior to dating, initiating sex on the first date or shortly after, having sex after a few weeks of dating, and sexual abstinence.

Each one of these fields yielded different results in relationship satisfaction, stability and communication in dating situations.

The US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health published the results.