Narcissistic men more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation

Narcissism has long been associated with diminished sexual and overall relationship satisfaction – and now research has revealed it can also affect performance in the bedroom.

Published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, psychologists investigated answers from over a thousand men. The participants (between 18 and 85) had to complete a comprehensive questionnaire that explored their sexual history, sexual health, sexual function/dysfunction, and narcissism.

Narcissistic men are said to be strongly driven by self-pleasure, so there's no surprise there was a widespread significance to various symptoms of sexual impairment. This includes premature ejaculation and, interestingly, difficulty reaching ejaculation altogether.

The results suggest "that their sexual arousal may be driven more by situational than internally-stable factors. Narcissism combined with sexual dysfunctional symptomology to predict lower relationship satisfaction."

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The men scored low, medium, or high in sexual narcissism based on their responses to the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Narcissism.

Those who were categorised as high strongly agreed with statements such as "In sex, I like to be the one in charge," "I believe I have a special style of making love," and "Emotional closeness can easily get in the way of sexual pleasure," and "Pleasing yourself in sex is most important."

They were also more likely to prefer masturbation over sex.

"Various personality traits and disorders (such as narcissism) have been associated with sexual response and satisfaction," said study author David L. Rowland, a senior research professor at Valparaiso University, told PsyPost.

"Our research reiterates the negative impact that narcissism has on relationship satisfaction, but adds new perspective on how this personality characteristic may also affect a man’s sexual response during partnered sex."

"This is a correlational study, so one needs to be cautious about drawing causal conclusions, for example, stating that narcissism is the cause of diminished sexual and relationship satisfaction, or of more problematic sexual response during partnered sex," Rowland explained. “Other factors not assessed in our study may be responsible for these outcomes.”

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