Which Job Makes the Best Male Lover?

Whether he's a doctor, a truck driver, or a computer programmer, your husband brings his work home - in a very intimate way. An iVillage - Redbook survey of 400 married women revealed that their husbands' chosen professions have a lot of bearing on their lovemaking patterns.

"It's not surprising that what you do by day spills over into the evening," says psychologist Linda De Villers, Ph.D., a sex therapist and author of Love Skills. "If he tinkers with intricate machines all day, maybe he'll be gifted at navigating a woman's body. If he's got a job that's very linear, very logical, then his lovemaking might be more formulaic or orderly."

Check out the professions on to see how each stacks up.

Artists - Their wives claim they're the best lovers (45% - first place among all the professions - rate their sex life as "excellent"). 100% engage in foreplay (though 13% of their wives say it "seems like an eternity"). 73% fully satisfy their wives. They don't make love often (39% have sex less than once a week), but if she's in the mood and he's not, 61% will accommodate her anyway.

Construction Workers/Contractors - 58% have sex more than twice a week (high frequency). 30% of their wives would like them to be more tender. They're the least likely to give oral sex (40% don't). But their wives say they're cuddly when they're in the mood (66% - way above average). And 57% say sex is "excellent" or "very good."

Truck Drivers/Mechanics - First place in oral sex (61% of their wives rate them "the best of the best"). 95% engage in foreplay. 39% have "excellent" sex lives. 47% have sex more than twice a week (above-average frequency). They're the most likely to introduce edible underwear (26%). But more than a third fall asleep right after sex (three times the average).

Small-Business Owners - Most likely to introduce new positions or sex toys (46%; average for all husbands is 28%). Six times as likely as the average husband to introduce whips, ropes, or handcuffs (18%). 100% of their wives say they're in sync regarding how long sex lasts. Yet 30% say they wish he'd spend more time on foreplay. Still, 36% have sex more than twice a week (high frequency).

Engineers/Architects - Highly likely to make sure their wives are satisfied (71%). 92% do foreplay, and 76% of their wives say it lasts just long enough to make sex perfect. But 12% (twice the average) complain that foreplay "seems like an eternity." They're more than twice as likely as the average husband to introduce a battery-powered device (29%).

Managers/Supervisors - 38% of their wives rate sex "excellent," which puts them in third place overall. They're the cuddliest profession (45% are constant cuddlers). 74% are either good or "the best of the best" at oral sex. But if he's in the mood and she's not, he's the least likely to take no for an answer (29%, compared to the average 57%) and among the most likely to negotiate.