Personality style and sexual functioning among psychiatric outpatients

Abstract

Abstract Although the notion of “psychosexual” disorder implies a relationship between sexual dysfunction and psychological maladaptation, the nature of that relationship remains puzzling. In this study the relationship between sexual difficulties and four personality styles (the anxious personality, the impulsive personality, the obsessive personality, and the phobic personality) was examined. Data were obtained from 185 psychiatric outpatients who completed a comprehensive self‐report questionnaire which included questions on personality traits and on specific and general sexual functioning. Chronic anxiety and changes in sexual interest and activity were associated, as were anxiety and thoughts of ending marriage. While anxiety did not relate to overall assessment of sexual satisfaction with spouse, a significant degree of impulsivity was noted in all groups reporting any history of difficulty with sexual relations. Women who were not getting along with their spouses and who had long‐standing difficult...