Does sex feel different based on the amount of noise you make? Here’re the true reasons behind why women moan during sex.

A couple of nights a week, I hear my next door neighbor having sex. At first, I honestly thought it was one of her little yappy dogs barking, but then I realized it was her moaning in pleasure. I could also hear her boyfriend smacking her on the ass, making her moan even more. It occurs to me that yelling, “Who’s your daddy?!” through the wall would be a bit inappropriate, although highly tempting, so I usually just bang on the wall a couple of times after they’ve finished their noisy sex and begun their noisy arguing. It seems to be their rhythm.

I also wonder if they ever hear me having sex on those rare occasions I get laid.

Do I moan? Yes. Do they hear it? I have no idea. But the real question is: Even if they do hear it, could I NOT moan? What causes women to moan when they have sex?

I’ve narrowed it down to these 10 reasons. While I know I’m probably missing a reason or two, this list is based on personal experience and interviews with other moaning women. I did not interview my neighbor; that would be awkward. Take a look at this list and see if one of these numbers is yours.

1. Automatic Response to Pleasure

One of the most common reasons women moan during sex is simply because it’s an automatic response to pleasure. Just like sighing when you sink into a hot tub, the pleasure you get from sex can cause an audible and involuntary response.

2. Automatic Response to Pain

Of course, women also moan in pain. If your man is going a little too rough, or he’s hitting that place inside you that feels uncomfortable, or even if you’ve suddenly developed a leg cramp, you’re just as likely to moan in response to pain during sex just as you are in response to pleasure during sex.

3. To Increase Your Libido

It’s hard to move past the day and get over the stress of real life. Even during sex, some of those emotions can seep into your brain, or you could just be so overwhelmed with things to do that you’re busy concentrating on the grocery list and not the sex. Moaning is a way of getting your head back in the game so to speak. By moaning, you take your mind off your chores and put it back into the sex where it belongs—which is exactly where it should be.

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So is vocalization during sex just a performance?

All you have to do is watch nearly any depiction of female orgasm on screen to get an idea of how a woman is “supposed” to react during sex.

From “When Harry Met Sally” to “Sex and the City” to your basic porn film, women in the throes of passion aren’t just shouting their ecstasy from the rooftops, they’re moaning with pleasure. Loudly.

But is this just cinematic license, or is there really something to noisy sex?

Experts wondered the same thing. In 2011, Gayle Brewer of the University of Central Lancashire and Colin Hendrie of the University of Leeds published their research on the topic — technically known as “copulatory vocalization” — in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. In the study, they asked 71 sexually active heterosexual women between ages 18 and 48 for more details about vocalization during sex.

The researchers found that many of the women did make noise but not necessarily while they were having an orgasm. Instead, 66% said that they moaned to speed up their partner’s climax, and 87% stated that they vocalized during sex to boost his self-esteem.

“While female orgasms were most commonly experienced during foreplay, copulatory vocalizations were reported to be made most often before and simultaneously with male ejaculation,” the researchers wrote. Women also reported making noise to relieve boredom, fatigue and pain/discomfort during sex.

So is female vocalization during sex just a performance for a guy’s benefit? (After all, Meg Ryan’s over-the-top moans were meant to prove a point to “Harry” that men are easily duped by a fake orgasm.)