Psychological factors in male sexual dysfunction

In this chapter, the multiple ways in which psychological functioning can interact with sexual response are presented and discussed. As with physiological systems, psychological factors affecting sexual response can range from the broad and nonspecific (those that impact overall psychological functioning) to the highly detailed and selective (those that are very specific to sexual functioning). For example, a major psychopathology may impact multiple facets of psychological functioning, one of which happens to include sexual response. In contrast, other psychological factors, such as those arising from cognitive and affective responses within the dyadic relationship, may be linked specifically to sexual situations via the man’s past and current experiences with his partner. Unlike major psychopathology, however, these latter processes may have little or no observable effect on psychological functioning outside the sexual or relational context.