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Access Type

Open Access

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Psychology

Degree Name

Thesis (M.S.)

Year Degree Awarded

1982

Abstract

Definition . Premature ejaculation has been recognized as the most common male sexual dysfunction. Despite this fact, there exists little agreement over the criteria for defining an individual as a premature ejaculator. This difficulty seems inherent though when one attempts to operationalize intimate sexual relations into a functional versus a dysfunctional interaction. Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin (1948) did not view quick ejaculation as a problem, certainly it was not abnormal. They state that approximately three-fourths of all males reach orgasm within two minutes after beginning sexual intercourse. Kinsey et al . emphasized that most species of mammals and man's closest relatives among the primates ejaculate instantly upon intromission : Far from being abnormal, the human male who is quick in his sexual response is quite normal among mammals, and usual in his species (p. 580). Despite their pioneering contributions to our knowledge of human sexual functioning, Masters and Johnson's (1970) definition of premature ejaculation is conspicuously problematic. Their own intensive research (Masters and Johnson, 1966) had validated experiential 1 observations: The human female requires a longer time to be stimulated to orgasm than does the male. Further, the clitoris is the part of a woman's anatomy which is most sensitive to erotic stimulation and is central to orgasmic response. Sexual intercourse, renowned as the ultimate sex act, is not an efficient way to stimulate the clitoris. (See Rotkin 1976 for feminist perspective.) Given this information, it is puzzling, if not disturbing, that Masters and Johnson (1970) consider a male to be a premature ejaculator if he reaches orgasm greater than 50 percent of the time before his female partner does during intercourse. Ron Mazur (1980) maintains that this kind of misinformation leads to the creation of pseudoproblems, with men seeking treatment for a "dysfunction" when, in actuality, they are functioning quite normally.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/r2q4-e814

COinS