Performance pressure leads some men to mistakenly consider themselves premature ejaculators.
The duration of sexual intercourse until ejaculation is often overestimated by men who estimate it on average at 13 minutes (1). Yet studies show that half of them ejaculate in less than 6 minutes (1) and that some consider themselves premature when ejaculation occurs in less than 5 minutes (2).
What is really the definition of premature ejaculation?
International classifications, whether DSM-V or the International Society of Sexual Medicine, suggest a time limit that is either very vague, or up to 3 minutes if the phenomenon is recent and 1 minute if it is older.
However, when we question the men, half of them consider themselves to be premature when their ejaculation occurs less than 5 minutes after the start of penetration, i.e. a duration which goes beyond the proposed definitions and which corresponds to the more often to performance pressure or the idea that the man cannot ejaculate before his partner has had enough pleasure.
A taboo that makes men feel guilty
If many men wrongly think they suffer from premature ejaculation, not only do they lock themselves in their guilt, but are often ashamed to talk about it, including in their relationship.
However, freeing up speech and normalizing the true duration of a sexual relationship would allow them to feel more confident, and possibly develop relationships that place less importance on penetration.
Sources:
- “A Five-nation Survey to Assess the Distribution of the Intravaginal Ejaculatory Latency Time among the General Male Population” by Marcel D. Waldinger et al. 06 October 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01392.xQuotes: 30
- IFOP survey available at: https://www.ifop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/116347_Rapport_ifop_CHARLES_2019.09.25.pdf
