Narcissistic men are more prone to premature ejaculation and trouble orgasming, a new study found.
The study, “Narcissism, sexual response, and sexual and relationship satisfaction” published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, was conducted with 1,287 men ages 18 to 35 answering questions about their sexual activity in the last 12 to 24 months.
They were rated using the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Narcissism and asked questions including “In sex, I like to be the one in charge” and “Pleasing yourself in sex is most important.”
Sexual narcissism describes people who have an “inflated and unrealistic view” of their own sexuality and are often only out to satisfy themselves.
The study found that “narcissistic men are strongly self-pleasure driven, deriving sexual satisfaction more from orgasm than relational interactions.” Narcissistic men have a higher sexualization overall but are also more prone to rapid ejaculation and difficulty reaching ejaculation, according to the findings.
Study author David L. Rowland, a senior research professor at Valparaiso University, noted that certain personality traits including narcissism have been linked with sexual response and satisfaction.
“Narcissistic men are strongly driven by their own desire for pleasure, deriving sexual satisfaction more from orgasm than from other factors associated with partnered sex such as feelings of intimacy and relational interactions,” Rowland told PsyPost.
“They are also more prone to quicker ejaculation (presumably early in a sexual relationship) and to difficulty reaching ejaculation (presumably as relationship novelty wanes), suggesting 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.”
Narcissistic men are also more likely to have a sexual partner, have sex and masturbate, a greater interest in sex, lower sexual satisfaction and lower overall relationship satisfaction. But being very into themselves, they are also more likely to prefer masturbation over partnered sex.
“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.”