If you’re a narcissist when it comes to sex, chances are you’re more likely to suffer some embarrassing issues in the bedroom.
Researchers have surveyed over a thousand adult males on their sex lives and their levels of ‘sexual narcissism’.
Sexual narcissism describes people who have an ‘inflated and unrealistic view’ of their own sexuality, and are often out to please only themselves during sex.
Researchers found that being more prone to premature ejaculation and having difficulty reaching orgasm are both positively linked with sexual narcissism.
Men with sexual narcissism ‘are strongly self-pleasure driven’ and care more about their own orgasm than their sexual partner, they suggest.
An example of a sexual narcissist is Patrick Bateman, a character played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film ‘American Psycho’.
Sexual narcissism describes people who have an ‘inflated and unrealistic view’ of their own sexuality, and are often out to please only themselves during sex. Pictured is Patrick Bateman, the serial killer and sexual narcissist, played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film ‘American Psycho’
In a memorable scene, Bateman obsessively flexes his muscles and watches himself in the mirror while he has sex with a prostitute.
The new study was conducted by researchers at Valparaiso University in Indiana and Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary.
‘Various personality traits and disorders (such as narcissism) have been associated with sexual response and satisfaction,’ study author Professor David L. Rowland 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.’
For their study, the team recruited 1,297 men, ranging from 18 to 85 years old, to complete an online questionnaire.
The questionnaire surveyed the men on multiple factors, including medical conditions, sexual dysfunctions and sexual relationships as far back as two years.
Men also competed the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Narcissism, where they had to rate the extent to which they agreed with several statements.
Those high in sexual narcissism strongly agreed with the statements ‘In sex, I like to be the one in charge,’ ‘I believe I have a special style of making love’, ‘Emotional closeness can easily get in the way of sexual pleasure,’ and ‘Pleasing yourself in sex is most important’.
Experts say narcissistic men are strongly self-pleasure driven, but that they’re more prone to premature ejaculation (file photo)
Researchers found that men with high sexual narcissism were more likely to have a sexual partner, have sex more more frequently, masturbate more frequently and have a greater interest in sex.
However, they also showed lower sexual satisfaction and lower overall relationship satisfaction and were more likely to prefer masturbation over sex.
Interestingly, men with sexual narcissism were also more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation and, paradoxically, had more difficulty reaching orgasm during sex.
While these are two very different sexual traits, men weren’t suffering from both at the same time – unless they were during different sexual encounters.
Narcissistic men also showed higher sexualisation overall, as well as a higher ‘autoerotic orientation’ – getting sexual gratification through stimulation of one’s own body.
‘Narcissistic men are strongly self-pleasure driven, deriving sexual satisfaction more from orgasm than relational interactions,’ the authors say in their paper.
‘They are also more prone to rapid ejaculation (presumably early in a sexual relationship) and to difficulty reaching ejaculation (presumably as relationship novelty wanes).’
Being out to please oneself during sex can explain premature ejaculation, but how sexual narcissism is linked to difficulty reaching orgasm is less clear.
As people with sexual narcissism focus primarily on what they want, it could be that this is not always conducive to ejaculation.
Researchers stress that they were unable to distinguish correlation from causation (one factor directly causing another).
‘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 said.
‘Other factors not assessed in our study may be responsible for these outcomes.’
The study has been published in the journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy.
