Taking relationship advice from homosexual couples could be the key heterosexual couples need when learning how to communicate with each other about sex.

According to a study by researchers at the Gottman Institute, a Seattle research-based institute for relationship therapy, same-sex couples tend to talk more openly with each other about sex than heterosexual couples.

“They talk about all of this more openly, and with more sense of humor than heterosexuals,” said co-founder John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology.

Junior Aaron Carasco is in a same-sex relationship. He feels that by talking about sex he’ll have a more successful relationship.

“Talk about sex as easily as about who’s paying for dinner,” Carasco said.

Senior Emily Price is in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend. She said she can see why homosexual couples tend to talk more frequently with each other about sex.

“Homosexual couples do a better job at being responsible, and to do that you have to talk it out,” Price said.

Gottman’s study on relationship satisfaction involved researchers taping couples conversing and then analyzing the couple’s verbal and nonverbal interaction, while also monitoring their heart rates during discussions.

The couples were tracked for 12 years to see if their relationships lasted.

Data revealed that the heterosexual couples with higher levels of cardiovascular arousal during an argument were more at risk for dissolution, while gay couples with lower levels of arousal during conflict conversation were more at-risk for splitting up.

Dan Yoshimoto, a researcher and graduate psychology student, said in a UW News and Information article that the positive methods gay and lesbian couples use to approach conflict may lead to a higher sense of relationship satisfaction.

“They start and maintain a conversation in a positive way, and this may enable them to solve a problem and resolve conflict,” Yoshimoto said.

Researchers found that married couples matched in age, length of relationship and relationship satisfaction with gay and lesbian couples were much more defensive about sexual issues.

“We heterosexuals have trouble talking about how to initiate sex [and] how to say ‘no’ without creating a sense of total rejection,” Gottman said.

Since couples tend to perceive their relationship differently than how they actually interact as a couple, recording live interaction was a necessary method, researchers said.

The group has since discovered differences in sex communication among different ethnicities.

“One exception I found to this uptight description of heterosexuals is Latino-Hispanic Americans,” Gottman said. “Those couples were quite open about sex, much more so than those of us from an Anglo-Saxon heritage.”

The Gottman Institute offers relationship workshops for gay and lesbian couples, training for therapists and weekend seminars for couples in Seattle. Satisfied couples are also welcome to attend these sessions.