Often, when a man is experiencing a sexual dysfunction, his partner may think that it is the result of some infidelity. However, it seems that the relationship between infidelity and erectile dysfunction is not so simple.
Italian scientists compared the psychological and biological characteristics of cheating men to those of men who were faithful to their partner. All men in the study had visited a special Andrology clinic because they were experiencing some sexual dysfunction. The results showed that men who were cheating were significantly different to men who were not cheatinh in several parameters, not only psychological and biological.
The major difference was that the cheating men had low satisfaction with the quality of the basic relationship. Furthermore, they had more professional stress and a greater likelihood to be experiencing family conflicts and tensions.
Also, partners of these men had a significant chance to have reduced sexual desire or health problems.
However,of great interest are the differences found in the biological level. Cheating men had higher levels of testosterone (a hormone responsible for sexual desire) and other male hormones.
The results of this study confirm earlier studies showing that infidelity is connected to sexual dysfunctions by the mediating effect of the poor relationship quality.
It seems that relationship satisfaction plays the central role . When it is low, it increases the probability to generate a sexual dysfunction and infidelity aslo.
However, this study also highlights the importance of organic parameters that are studied for the first time for their relationship with infidelity. It seems that the hormonal profile of a man is associated with the likelihood of infidelity.
This study highlights the importance of the quality of the relationship and suggests that human behavior is affected by a complex mix of organic and psychological factors. It appears then, that the emergence of sexual dysfunctions does not necessarily mean that a male is cheating. However, a man with sexual dysfunction presents increased likelihood to cheat on his partner, when the quality of the relationship is low.
Fisher AD, Corona G, Bandini E et al. (2009) Psychobiological correlates of extramarital affairs and differences between stable and occasional infidelity among men with sexual dysfunctions. J Sex Med 6: 866-875.
