Meanwhile Jonny, 35, spent summers working in Cross Timbers' fields, first as a construction worker, known as a roustabout, then as a gager, checking oil levels and reading gas meters.

FORBES: Down and Dirty

But Dr. Gager and her co-author, Scott Yabiku, associate professor of sociology at Arizona State University, Tempe, controlled the results for "gender ideology" and found the housework-sex link remained true, regardless of people's views on roles.

WSJ: The Sex-Housework Link

"Rather than compromise their sex life" because of time demands at work or at home, "this group of go-getters seems to make sex a priority, " says Constance Gager, lead researcher and an assistant professor of family and child studies at Montclair State University, Montclair, N.

WSJ: The Sex-Housework Link