Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:55:33.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Male Sexual Disorders

from Part II - Applications to Health, Law, and Pornography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

By
Klára Bártová  and
Kateřina Klapilová
Edited by
Todd K. Shackelford
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Oakland University, Michigan
Get access

Summary

The main areas of male sexual disorders recognized by sexual medicine are paraphilic disorders and sexual dysfunctions This chapter offers an overview of the contributions of evolutionarily informed approach to the aetiology of male paraphilic disorders, with some space dedicated also to an evolutionary view of male sexual dysfunctions. First, the details of an evolutionary sexology (ES) approach are explained: (1) ES is relatively independent of current sexologic diagnoses. In contrast with the traditional medical and legal view, it is also independent of current sociocultural norms; (2) An advantage of ESis that symptoms themselves might be viewed as separate units of selection or parts of different complex evolutionarily relevant phenomena; (3) recent evolutionarily informed theories explain sexual disorders using a combination of nature and nurture reasoning; (4) ES combines the theoretical approach ofevolutionary psychology and ethology with knowledge of human phylogenetic history and selective pressures in the pleistocene environment of evolutionary adaptedness. An evolutionary framework views some male sexual disorders as adaptive behavioral strategies selected over evolutionary history because they increased the reproductive success of our ancestors, but they might also be viewed as maladaptive margins of the variability within the normophilic spectrum. A major part of the chapter is dedicated to evolutionary perspectives on paraphilic sexual interests (paraphilias) and disorders (according to current diagnostic manual (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), the latter characterized by either paraphilia-related distress or antisocial behavior). Throughout the chapter, we distinguish between paraphilias and sexual offending. We provide evidence for the biological as well as developmental correlates of paraphilia and explain their possible placement in multidimensional sexual orientation space. We also summarize recent evidence on the prevalence of paraphilias in current populations. Finally, the dominant evolutionarily informed theories of the aetiology of common paraphilic interests and disorders (i.e., chronophilia, fetishism, nonconsent related paraphilias, and sadomasochism) and male sexual dysfunctions are described.

Keywords

evolutionary psychiatrymale paraphilia disordersparaphilia etiologymale sexual dysfunctionsethology
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology , pp. 252 - 273
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Androvicova, R., Novak, O., Hula, M., Tomecek, D., Hlinka, J., Weiss, P., & Klapilova, K. (2018). Is stranger rape a strategy to avoid female courtship behavior?: A parallel fMRI and penile plethysmography study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 15, S246–S247.Google Scholar
Apostolou, M. (2015). Sexual dysfunctions in men: An evolutionary perspective. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 1, 220–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Apostolou, M., & Khalil, M. (2019). Aggressive and humiliating sexual play: Occurrence rates and discordance between the sexes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48, 2187–2200.Google Scholar
Aronsson, H. (2011). Sexual imprinting and fetishism: An evolutionary hypothesis. In Adriaens, P. & De Block, A. (Eds.), Maladapting minds: Philosophy, psychiatry, and evolutionary theory (pp. 65–90). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bailey, J. M., Vasey, P. L., Diamond, L. M., Breedlove, S. M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17, 45–101.Google Scholar
Bártová, K., Androvičová, R., Krejčová, L., Weiss, P., & Klapilová, K. (2021). The prevalence of paraphilic interests in the Czech population: Preference, arousal, the use of pornography, fantasy, and behavior. The Journal of Sex Research, 58, 86–96.Google Scholar
Baur, E., Forsman, M., Santtila, P., Johansson, A., Sandnabba, K., & Långström, N. (2016). Paraphilic sexual interests and sexually coercive behavior: A population-based twin study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(5), 1163–1172.Google Scholar
Beach, F. A. (1976). Sexual attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity in female mammals. Hormones and Behavior, 7, 105–138.Google Scholar
Behrendt, N., Buhl, N., & Seidl, S. (2002). The lethal paraphiliac syndrome: Accidental autoerotic deaths in four women and a review of the literature. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 116, 148–152.Google Scholar
Boothroyd, L. G., Cross, C. P., Gray, A. W., Coombes, C., & Gregson-Curtis, K. (2011). Perceiving the facial correlates of sociosexuality: Further evidence. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 422–425.Google Scholar
Briken, P., & Krueger, R. B. (2018). From atypical sexual interests to paraphilic disorders: The planned ICD revisions related to paraphilic disorder. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 15, 807–808.Google Scholar
Brody, S., Klapilová, K., & Krejčová, L. (2013). More frequent vaginal orgasm is associated with experiencing greater excitement from deep vaginal stimulation. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10, 1730–1736.Google Scholar
Brooks, R., Hunt, J., Blows, M. W., Smith, M. J., Bussière, L. F., & Jennions, M. D. (2005). Experimental evidence for multivariate stabilizing sexual selection. Evolution, 59, 871–880.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1–14.Google Scholar
Camilleri, J. A. (2012). Evolutionary psychological perspectives on sexual offending: From etiology to intervention. In Shackelford, T. K. & Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of evolutionary perspectives on violence, homicide, and war (pp. 173–196). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cantor, J. M. (2012). Is homosexuality a paraphilia? The evidence for and against. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 237–247.Google Scholar
Cantor, J. M., & Fedoroff, J. P. (2018). Can pedophiles change? Response to opening arguments and conclusions. Current Sexual Health Reports, 10, 213–220.Google Scholar
Carson, C., & Gunn, K. (2006). Premature ejaculation: Definition and prevalence. International Journal of Impotence Research, 18, S5–S13.Google Scholar
Chen, C. Y., Raine, A., Chou, K. H., Chen, I. Y., Hung, D., & Lin, C. P. (2016). Abnormal white matter integrity in rapists as indicated by diffusion tensor imaging. BMC Neuroscience, 17, 1–8.Google Scholar
Clark, S. K., Jeglic, E. L., Calkins, C., & Tatar, J. R. (2016). More than a nuisance: The prevalence and consequences of frotteurism and exhibitionism. Sexual Abuse, 28, 3–19.Google Scholar
Dawson, S. J., Bannerman, B. A., & Lalumière, M. L. (2016). Paraphilic interests: An examination of sex differences in a nonclinical sample. Sexual Abuse, 28, 20–45.Google Scholar
Dixson, A. F. (1998). Primate sexuality: Comparative studies of the prosimians, monkeys, apes, and human beings. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Doidge, N. (2007) The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science. New York: Viking Penguin.Google Scholar
Enquist, M., Aronsson, H., Ghirlanda, S., Jansson, L., & Jannini, E. A. (2011). Exposure to mother’s pregnancy and lactation in infancy is associated with sexual attraction to pregnancy and lactation in adulthood. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8, 140–147.Google Scholar
Freund, K. (1990). Courtship disorder. In Handbook of sexual assault (pp. 195–207). Boston, MA: Springer.Google Scholar
Freund, K., & Blanchard, R. (1993). Erotic target location errors in male gender dysphorics, paedophiles, and fetishists. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 558–563.Google Scholar
Freund, K., & Watson, R. J. (1992). The proportions of heterosexual and homosexual pedophiles among sex offenders against children: An exploratory study. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 18, 34–43.Google Scholar
Gangestad, S. W., & Simpson, J. A. (2000). The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 573–587.Google Scholar
Grundmann, D., Krupp, J., Scherner, G., Amelung, T., & Beier, K. M. (2016). Stability of self-reported arousal to sexual fantasies involving children in a clinical sample of pedophiles and hebephiles. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45, 1153–1162.Google Scholar
Hsu, K. J., & Bailey, J. M. (2019). The “furry” phenomenon: Characterizing sexual orientation, sexual motivation, and erotic target identity inversions in male furries. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48, 1349–1369.Google Scholar
Imhoff, R., Banse, R., & Schmidt, A. F. (2017). Toward a theoretical understanding of sexual orientation and sexual motivation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 29–33.Google Scholar
Ingraham, C. (2015). Sex toy injuries surged after ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’s was published. The Washington Post. February 10.Google Scholar
James, E. L. (2012). Fifty shades of grey. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Joyal, C. C., & Carpentier, J. (2017). The prevalence of paraphilic interests and behaviors in the general population: A provincial survey. The Journal of Sex Research, 54, 161–171.Google Scholar
Kafka, M. P. (2010). The DSM diagnostic criteria for fetishism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 357–362.Google Scholar
Kafka, M. (2012). Axis I psychiatric disorders, paraphilic sexual offending and implications for pharmacological treatment. The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 49, 255–261.Google Scholar
Kenrick, D. T., & Keefe, R. C. (1992). Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 15, 75–91.Google Scholar
Klapilová, K., & Bártová, K. (2017). Sexual pathology. In T. K. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. New York: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1Google Scholar
Kolářský, A. (2008). Jak porozumět sexuálním deviacím: Teoretická východiska sexodiagnostiky-cesta k tvorbě náhledu ak realizaci sexuality v mezích zákona. Prague: Galén.Google Scholar
Kolářský, A., & Madlafousek, J. (1983). The inverse role of preparatory erotic stimulation in exhibitionists: Phallometric studies. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 12, 123–148.Google Scholar
Lawrence, A. A. (2009). Erotic target location errors: An underappreciated paraphilic dimension. The Journal of Sex Research, 46, 194–215.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. W., Fugl‐Meyer, K. S., Bosch, R., Fugl‐Meyer, A. R., Laumann, E. O., Lizza, E., & Martin‐Morales, A. (2004). Epidemiology/risk factors of sexual dysfunction. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 1, 35–39.Google Scholar
Lippa, R. A. (2006). Is high sex drive associated with increased sexual attraction to both sexes? It depends on whether you are male or female. Psychological Science, 17, 46–52.Google Scholar
Mann, R. E., Hanson, R. K., & Thornton, D. (2010). Assessing risk for sexual recidivism: Some proposals on the nature of psychologically meaningful risk factors. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22, 191–217.Google Scholar
Marshall, W. L. (2007). Diagnostic issues, multiple paraphilias, and comorbid disorders in sexual offenders: Their incidence and treatment. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12, 16–35.Google Scholar
Martijn, F. M., Babchishin, K. M., Pullman, L. E., & Seto, M. C. (2020). Sexual attraction and falling in love in persons with pedohebephilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1–14.Google Scholar
Martinez, K. (2018). BDSM role fluidity: A mixed-methods approach to investigating switches within dominant/submissive binaries. Journal of Homosexuality, 65, 1299–1324.Google Scholar
McPhail, I. V., Olver, M. E., Brouillette-Alarie, S., & Looman, J. (2018). Taxometric analysis of the latent structure of pedophilic interest. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 2223–2240.Google Scholar
Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A specific instance of new phylism theory as applied to paraphilic lovemaps (pp. 445–463). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Money, J. (2012). Lovemaps: Clinical concepts of sexual/erotic health and pathology, paraphilia, and gender transposition in childhood, adolescence, and maturity. New York: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
Müller, K., Curry, S., Ranger, R., Briken, P., Bradford, J., & Fedoroff, J. P. (2014). Changes in sexual arousal as measured by penile plethysmography in men with pedophilic sexual interest. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 11, 1221–1229.Google Scholar
Mundy, C. L., & Cioe, J. D. (2019). Exploring the relationship between paraphilic interests, sex, and sexual and life satisfaction in non-clinical samples. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 28, 304–316.Google Scholar
Nesse, R. M. (2002). Evolutionary biology a basic science for psychiatry. Official Journal of the Word Psychiatric Association, 1, 7–9.Google Scholar
Pfaus, J. G., Erickson, K. A., & Talianakis, S. (2013). Somatosensory conditioning of sexual arousal and copulatory behavior in the male rat: A model of fetish development. Physiology & Behavior, 122, 1–7.Google Scholar
Pfaus, J. G., Kippin, T. E., Coria-Avila, G. A., Gelez, H., Afonso, V. M., Ismail, N., & Parada, M. (2012). Who, what, where, when (and maybe even why)? How the experience of sexual reward connects sexual desire, preference, and performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 31–62.Google Scholar
Pfaus, J. G., Quintana, G. R., Mac Cionnaith, C. E., Gerson, C. A., Dubé, S., & Coria-Avila, G. A. (2020). Conditioning of sexual interests and paraphilias in humans is difficult to see, virtually impossible to test, and probably exactly how it happens: A comment on Hsu and Bailey (2020). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49, 1403–1407.Google Scholar
Plaud, J. J., & Martini, J. R. (1999). The respondent conditioning of male sexual arousal. Behavior Modification, 23, 254–268.Google Scholar
Ponseti, J., Bruhn, D., Nolting, J., Gerwinn, H., Pohl, A., Stirn, A., … & Kruger, T. H. (2018). Decoding pedophilia: increased anterior insula response to infant animal pictures. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 645.Google Scholar
Ponseti, J., Granert, O., Van Eimeren, T., Jansen, O., Wolff, S., Beier, K., … & Roman Siebner, H. (2016). Assessing paedophilia based on the haemodynamic brain response to face images. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 17, 39–46.Google Scholar
Pulverman, C. S., Kilimnik, C. D., & Meston, C. M. (2018). The impact of childhood sexual abuse on women’s sexual health: A comprehensive review. Sexual Medicine Reviews, 6, 188–200.Google Scholar
Quinsey, V. L. (2012). Pragmatic and Darwinian views of the paraphilias. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 217–220.Google Scholar
Quinsey, V. L., & Lalumière, M. L. (1995). Evolutionary perspectives on sexual offending. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 301–315.Google Scholar
Rachman, S. (1966). Sexual fetishism: An experimental analogue. Psychological Record, 16, 293–296.Google Scholar
Schmidt, A. F. & Imhoff, R. (in press). Towards a theory of chronophilic sexual orientation in heterosexual men. In Craig, L. A. & Bartels, R. M. (Eds.), Sexual deviance: Understanding and managing deviant sexual interest and paraphilic disorders. Boston: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Scorolli, C., Ghirlanda, S., Enquist, M., Zattoni, S., & Jannini, E. A. (2007). Relative prevalence of different fetishes. International Journal of Impotence Research, 19, 432–437.Google Scholar
Seto, M. C. (2008). Pedophilia and sexual offending against children: Theory, assessment, and intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 3–22.Google Scholar
Seto, M. C., Fedoroff, J. P., Bradford, J. M., Knack, N., Rodrigues, N. C., Curry, S., … & Ahmed, A. G. (2016). Reliability and validity of the DSM-IV-TR and proposed DSM-5 criteria for pedophilia: Implications for the ICD-11 and the next DSM. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 49, 98–106.Google Scholar
Seto, M. C., Lalumière, M. L., Harris, G. T., & Chivers, M. L. (2012). The sexual responses of sexual sadists. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 739.Google Scholar
Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). Evolutionary psychiatry: A new beginning. Routledge: Psychologic Press.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M. (1962). Growth at adolescence (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Tenbergen, G., Wittfoth, M., Frieling, H., Ponseti, J., Walter, M., Walter, H., … & Kruger, T. H. (2015). The neurobiology and psychology of pedophilia: Recent advances and challenges. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 344.Google Scholar
Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für tierpsychologie, 20, 410–433.Google Scholar
Vagenknecht, V., Bártová, K., & Klapilová, K., (2019). Metody měření pedofilní preference: přehled recentních trendů. Sexuológia, 2, 16–27.Google Scholar
Watts, A. L., Nagel, M. G., Latzman, R. D., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2019). Personality disorder features and paraphilic interests among undergraduates: Differential relations and potential antecedents. Journal of Personality Disorders, 33, 22–48.Google Scholar
Williams, G. C. (2018). Adaptation and natural selection: A critique of some current evolutionary thought (Vol. 75). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, C. J., & Weinberg, M. S. (2003). Zoophilia in men: A study of sexual interest in animals. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 523–535.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. D., & Cox, D. N. (1983). Personality of paedophile club members. Personality and Individual Differences, 4(3), 323–329.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1993). The international classification of diseases. Classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Diagnostic criteria for research. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×