Effects of demand for performance, self-monitoring of arousal, and increased sympathetic nervous system activity on male erectile response.

Clinical programs for the treatment of impotence generally have been successful but without experimental verification of their individual components or factors associated with the development of impotence. Twenty-four normal males participated in an investigation comparing factors believed to inhibit or facilitate penile tumescence. The effects of demand for performance, self-monitoring of erection, and increased SNS activity, were evaluated. Subjects were exposed to sexual stimuli under these conditions and measurements of penile responses were taken. Results indicated that there were no differential effects on penile responses between demand and no-demand or between self-monitoring and no self-monitoring. Increased SNS activity appeared to facilitate loss of erection, but only after, and not during, the sexual stimulus. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.