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Low libido? Rare orgasms? Your personality may be to blame.
By Prevention — Written on Sep 23, 2021
Get this: 43 percent of women suffer from sexual dysfunction (low libido, infrequent orgasms, painful intercourse), according to a 2014 study published in the journal, Sexual Medicine.
And while some may believe that this is because of a medical condition, it may actually be a result of their personality.
Previous research has shown that poor health and diseases, like diabetes, can contribute to having sexual dysfunction or disorder.
Yet, there's still little that is known about the influence a person's personality and her reactions to stressful situations can have.
So, researchers surveyed 50 women who, at the time, were receiving treatment for sexual dysfunction. They were given personality tests to see the kinds of characteristics they identified with most, such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.
They were then asked to rate their coping mechanisms — e.g., acceptance versus venting. Depending on how we cope, the study says, we can either increase or decrease the stress of a situation.
Based on the women's answers, researchers found that those without extroversion tendencies, which are tendencies that are a person being typically thought of as being positive, outgoing, and energetic, experienced worse sexual function.
And the study also found that the women who did possess these extroverted tendencies, as well as women who have an openness to experience — such as having the qualities of being inventive and curious — tended to function better sexually, as opposed to the women who were introverted or not as open to having different experiences.
The same was true for women who tended to cope negatively, such as turning to substance use and self-blame.
There's other research that has found similar claims, linking extroversion to a better and more abundant sex life.
In other words, the satisfactory levels of your sex life may be determined by how positive of a person you are overall.
So, what does this really mean for those of us who don't fall into the life of the party category? Are the introverts of the world fated to have significantly less satisfying sex lives than their more extroverted counterparts? And what if you happen to be more of an introvert yourself?
Really, don't worry! There are ways to turn your time in the bedroom around.
"I took away that women who were open to new experiences had better sex lives," says Prevention advisor Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a clinical professor at the Yale University School of Medicine about the study's findings.
"And I believe that. So, I'd just encourage women to be as healthy as they can in all aspects of life, including being open to new experiences and they'll have better sex lives."
The research also found that by finding more positive ways to cope, women who are experiencing sexual dysfunction will be able to improve their sex lives.
These coping mechanisms can include something like emotional support, such as talking it out with a therapist.
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Stephanie Castillo is a former editor for Time Inc’s news group, including Time, Fortune, and Money Magazine.
This article was originally published at Prevention. Reprinted with permission from the author.