Narcissism, sexual response, and sexual and relationship satisfaction

Narcissism has long been associated with diminished sexual and overall relationship satisfaction, but this association has not been investigated in the larger context of sexual function/dysfunction, also known to affect these outcome variables. Using a multivariate approach, this study investigated the relationships among sexual narcissism, sexual function/dysfunction, and sexual and overall relationship satisfaction in 1297 men completing an online survey about sexual history, sexual health, sexual function/dysfunction, and narcissism. Results indicated widespread differences on various sexual parameters between narcissistic and non-narcissistic men, with narcissistic men showing higher sexualization overall as well as higher auto-erotic orientation. Higher sexual narcissism was also significantly associated with various symptoms of sexual impairment, including a propensity toward both premature ejaculatory response and delayed ejaculatory response. Despite this association, both sexual narcissism and sexual function/dysfunction scores also independently predicted sexual and overall relationship satisfaction. Discussion focuses in part on explaining how two diametrically opposed sexual problems-rapid ejaculation and delayed/inhibited ejaculation-might play out sequentially in the sexual relationships of narcissistic men. Lay summary Narcissistic men are strongly self-pleasure driven, deriving sexual satisfaction more from orgasm than relational interactions. They are also more prone to rapid 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.