Self-monitoring and self-focus in erectile dysfunction

Self-focused attention can cause anxiety and poor performance in those with low self-efficacy expectations. Self-monitoring is frequently used in sex therapy assessment. If self-monitoring is conceptualized as a self-focusing manipulation, it would be expected to cause "spectatoring," anxiety and deterioration in individuals with erectile dysfunction. Therefore, this investigation explored the relationship between the dispositional tendency to focus attention on the self (self-consciousness) and sexual behavior in males with erectile dysfunction, and evaluated the effects of self-monitoring on erectile dysfunctional males who differed in dispositional self-consciousness. Results indicate that (a) individuals with erectile dysfunction were less dispositionally self-conscious than nondysfunctional individuals, (b) self-monitoring had no adverse effects on any aspect of sexuality investigated, and (c) manipulated and dispositional self-focus had no interactive effects. Implications of these results for sex therapy and for a better understanding of etiological and maintaining factors in sexual dysfunction are discussed.