Couples who get to know each other before being intimate have a better chance of having a lasting¹ relationship, but in some cases even a casual flingcan lead to true love, according to a new research.

一项最新调查表明，在确定亲密关系之前彼此互相了解的情侣感情更有可能长久，但在某些情况下，一夜情也能带来真爱。

Most of the 56 percent of 642 adults questioned in the study who said they had waited until they got serious before they had sex reported having a high quality relationship.

在接受调查的642名成年人中，56%的人称他们在两人确立恋爱关系后才发生性关系，这其中的大部分人称自己的感情质量较高。

The number was higher than for the 27 percent of people who had sex while dating casually² and the 17 percent who were intimate while in a non-romantic relationship.

另外有27%的人称他们在约会期间就随意发生了性关系，17%的人在发生关系时与对方还不是恋人关系，在这两种情况下，报告感情质量高的人的比例都不如前者高。

Paik, who reported the findings in the journal Social Science Research, said the research suggests that the courtship process acts as a screening mechanism³.

这一在《社会科学研究》期刊上发表的研究结果称，该研究表明求爱的过程发挥了筛选机制的作用。

"The debate is 'why can't we have sex now?' The expectation is that sex should occur very quickly. But doing so, you're losing out onsome information that might be useful," he explained in an interview.

他在一个采访中解释说：“问题的焦点是‘为什么我们现在不能做爱？’。人们期望性行为会很快发生。但如果这么做，你就失去了一些可能有用的信息。”