Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Treatment Model for Young Patients with Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction and Resultant Infertility
Published on: May 30, 2025
Psychological Features and Sexual Beliefs Characterizing Self-Labeled Asexual Individuals
Joana Carvalho1,2, Diana Lemos3, Pedro J Nobre2,4
1a Escola de Psicologia e Ciências da Vida , Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias , Lisbon , Portugal.
Abstract:
The present study was aimed at exploring and describing potential psychological and cognitive features characterizing asexual individuals. A web survey targeting a community of single and highly educated asexual individuals (68 women and 19 men) and matching controls (58 women and 19 men) was carried out in volunteers over 18 years old. Participants responded to a set of questions assessing personality traits, state psychopathological dimensions, and sexual beliefs. Findings on asexual women revealed that they reported higher levels of neuroticism, depression, phobic anxiety, personal sensitivity, as well as lower extraversion and conscientiousness than nonasexual women; also, asexual women reported more sexually conservative beliefs (including regarding sexual desire as a sin), beliefs related to the negative impact of age in sexuality, and the primacy of affection in sexual intercourse. Findings on asexual men showed that they reported more neuroticism, openness, psychoticism, and less extraversion. Findings on sexual beliefs showed that asexual men reported more sexually conservative beliefs, more beliefs related to the propensity for believing that women may use sex as a means to subjugate men, and beliefs related to the idea that erectile performance is central to female satisfaction. Findings further suggested that some of these features may have tapped into asexual individuals' religious status.
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Genital
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Latency
The latency period is not...
Personality Disorders: Narcissistic and Avoidant
Characteristics of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic individuals exhibit an inflated sense of self-importance and an excessive need for admiration. They are often...
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
Social Identity

