Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 premature ejaculation, 
a male is unable to delay orgasm as long as he wishes. 
Because “as long as he wishes” is dependent on a man’s—and his partner’s— 
attitudes and opinions about how long is appropriate, this is a diffi cult disorder to 
diagnose. Sometimes the problem can be resolved simply by having a male redefi ne 
how long he wants to delay ejaculation. Premature ejaculation is most often a psy-
chological problem since there are rarely physical reasons for it. One cause may be 
early sexual learning: Because sexual experiences during adolescence are often 
accompanied by a fear of being caught, some men learn early in their lives to reach 
orgasm as quickly as possible (Astbury-Ward, 2002; Barnes & Eardley, 2007; Sadeghi-
Nejad & Watson, 2008).
 Inhibited ejaculation 
is the opposite problem. In this case, the male is unable to 
ejaculate when he wants to, if at all. Sometimes learning general relaxation tech-
niques is suffi cient to allow men to overcome the diffi culty.
Some women experience
 anorgasmia, 
or a lack of orgasm. In primary orgasmic 
dysfunction, a woman has never experienced orgasm. In secondary orgasmic dysfunction,
a woman has had an orgasm at some point but no longer does or does so only under 
certain conditions—such as during masturbation—but not during sexual intercourse. 
Because the lack of orgasm during sexual intercourse is so common (some one-third 
of women report they do not receive suffi cient stimulation to reach orgasm during 
sexual intercourse), this condition is not dysfunctional at all but is merely a normal 
variation of female sexuality (McCabe, 2009).
Finally,
 inhibited sexual desire 
occurs when the motivation for sexual activity 
is restrained or lacking entirely. When people with inhibited sexual desire fi nd them-
selves in circumstances that typically would evoke sexual feelings, they begin to turn 
off sexually and may even experience a kind of “sexual anesthesia.” Ultimately they 
may begin to avoid situations of a sexual nature, thereby forgoing intimacy with 
others (Meston, 2003; Hertlein, Weeks, & Gambescia, 2007).
It is important to realize that many of the problems we have discussed turn up 
at one time or another in most people’s sex lives. It is only when these problems 
persist, cause undue anxiety, and turn sex from play into work that they are cause 
for concern. Furthermore, treatments for common sexual problems have a good rate 
of success (Masters & Johnson, 1994; Rosner, 2001).