Extraversion and Neuroticism in Sexually Dysfunctional Men Suffering from Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Marco Silvaggi,Costantino Leonardo,Chiara Simonelli,Filippo Maria Nimbi,Roberta Rossi,Paolo Maria Michetti,Francesca Tripodi,Adele Fabrizi

doi:10.4172/2167-0250.1000181

Abstract

The role of personality traits in sexual complaints and dysfunctions is ever more evident. However, the literature is very scarce as to the possible relationships between such personality traits and specific sexual dysfunctions like ED, PE or both, their subtypes as to time of onset and severity levels. The main aim of the present study was to investigate if Neuroticism and Extraversion have different roles and trends in men suffering from PE and/or ED, both lifelong and acquired. Moreover, we verified if, by adopting DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing PE, some differences emerged in percentages of diagnosed cases. The sample consisted of 222 patients aged 18-70. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15) was used to assess erectile function, and the Premature Ejaculation Severity Index (PESI) was used to assess the severity of PE dysfunction. Neuroticism and Extraversion were measured with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R). In our results, Neuroticism and Extraversion were dependent on the kind of sexual dysfunction and its severity. These results suggest that type, time of onset and severity of sexual dysfunctions should be considered as related to specific personality characteristics and vice versa.

Highlights

Personality traits are commonly described as global predispositions, consistent across time and responsible for guiding human behavior [1,2]
In spite of PE and ED being very different conditions, with different characteristics and etiology, where ED is affected by lifestyle and clearly age-dependent [32] with a steep increase beyond the fifth decade [33,34,35,36] in our literature research we found several papers regarding personality traits and sexual dysfunctions in men, but few studies focused on personality traits and specific sexual dysfunctions like ED and PE, and on links between such personality traits and dysfunction severity
We evaluated sexual function and personality traits through three tests: Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R) for all the participants, International Index of Erectile Function 15 (IIEF-15) for patients complaining of ED and Premature Ejaculation Severity Index (PESI) for patients reporting PE

Summary

Introduction

Personality traits are commonly described as global predispositions, consistent across time and responsible for guiding human behavior [1,2]. Empirical studies have been conducted on the role of personality traits in sexual disorders [5,6], sexual functioning [7,8], sexual behavior [9,10,11], sexual attitudes [12], and sexual cognitions [13]. Despite their methodological differences, studies conducted with heterosexual male samples have indicated that sexually dysfunctional men scored higher on Neuroticism, compared to sexually healthy men [5,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion