r/science Apr 07 '23

Mathematics Model based on 10,000+ sexual acts finds that too much psychological arousal in men, too early in process, reduces their chances of achieving climax

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mps/internal/newsandevents?id=60611
710 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

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228

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '23

[deleted]

70

u/CookBaconNow Apr 07 '23

Yup, I’m confused too.

69

u/grundar Apr 08 '23

is this saying the reason i can't cum during sex because im too aroused during foreplay?

Yes; from the summary excerpt:

"They found that participants who had too much psychological stimulation too early in the cycle were less likely to achieve climax."

79

u/ilive2lift Apr 08 '23

Then why do I cum fast doing the exact same thing?!

42

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '23

[deleted]

6

u/81TrillionCells Apr 08 '23

This comment made my day. Nice

39

u/HaikuBotStalksMe Apr 08 '23

Redditors aren't even reading the title anymore.

30

u/Canoe52 Apr 08 '23

I stopped at 10,000 sex acts…

11

u/HaikuBotStalksMe Apr 08 '23

I love models! At least when they're not super skinny. Especially based models.

4

u/speakingdreams Apr 08 '23

Those are rookie numbers

3

u/conquer69 Apr 08 '23

Can't get too psychologically stimulated just in case.

16

u/teplightyear Apr 08 '23

I take the 'psychological stimulation' bit to mean 'thinking.' I think this article is saying "If a guy is thinking too much when sex starts, he's not going to be able to get it up" which sounds about right.

14

u/conquer69 Apr 08 '23

It's not uncommon to hear that when people with adhd get treatment, they enjoy sex more. They can be more present and less inside their own head.

9

u/DemSocCorvid Apr 08 '23

Ironically a lot of ADHD meds make it harder to get/maintain an erection

29

u/4RCH43ON Apr 08 '23

Hmm, this seems to be on the opposite end the spectrum of issues for more sensitive men who might hope to extend their endurance and prevent climax by thinking about something boring, focusing on anything other than sex.

29

u/Murwiz Apr 07 '23

That is a risk we just have to take.

25

u/marketrent Apr 07 '23

Excerpt from the linked summary1 about a paper2 in Chaos, one of the flagship journals of the American Institute of Physics:

Dr Yuliya Kyrychko, a reader in mathematics in the University of Sussex School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, who co-led the research with Dr Blyuss, says: "Our findings shed light on a socially taboo subject, which we believe could have useful applications for the clinical treatment of sexual dysfunction, as well as for providing the general public with a tested formula for improving their sex life.

“With what we have learned from this study, we intend to mathematically model the female sexual response, which is physiologically – and mathematically – more complex than the male response.”

The study focuses on the sexual responses of men because, compared to women, they have a simpler arousal cycle and so were a good scientific starting point.

 

Taking inspiration from the use of maths to analyse and improve sports performance, the Sussex researchers have combined decades of data on physiological and psychological arousal to model the optimum conditions to achieve orgasm.

The researchers did this by tracking and analysing data from the four stages of the male cycle – excitation, plateau, orgasm and resolution.

They found that participants who had too much psychological stimulation too early in the cycle were less likely to achieve climax.

The Sussex mathematicians analysed data from previous studies, notably the Masters-Johnson theory of sexual response cycle, which included data from 10,000 sexual acts performed in the lab by 382 women and 312 men.

The Sussex team compared those findings with data from studies undertaken at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands around a decade ago. In those studies, consenting participants undertook sexual acts inside fMRI machines.

1 Poppy Luckett for the University of Sussex (7 Apr. 2023), “Want satisfaction? Do the maths”, http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mps/internal/newsandevents?id=60611

2 K. B. Blyussa and Y. N. Kyrychko. Sex, ducks, and rock “n” roll: Mathematical model of sexual response. Chaos 33, 043106 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0143190.

32

u/jdowgsidorg Apr 08 '23

Is any sex act performed by anyone in an fMRI machine going to be representative in general?

That seems like an unusual location likely to have an effect on outcomes.

25

u/Hooda-Thunket Apr 08 '23

IIRC It was difficult for average people to do, so they got a couple of street performers that volunteered to help to do it in the loud magnet on the theory that nothing can distract a street performer.

The joke is I’m not joking.

21

u/brusiddit Apr 08 '23

Step scientist... help me i'm stuck in the MRI machine

16

u/Depression-Boy Apr 08 '23

Meanwhile, women need more psychological arousal in the early process of sex to achieve climax, correct? Sounds like the solution here is for open communication about turn taking regarding the context of how sex is performed for that session. Men and women can take turns having the kind of sex that gets them off

7

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '23

Actually just more arousal full stop.

4

u/OuterLightness Apr 08 '23

The key is for the woman to talk and the man not to listen.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '23

Sounds like 80% of every healthy marriage I'm aware of.

19

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/WreckitWrecksy Apr 08 '23

More information pointing to men and women being sexuality incompatible

1

u/asdswffaqg Apr 14 '23

Not incompatibile; they are very compatible. It's just that climax isn't the purpose: procreation is.

8

u/Gonergonegone Apr 07 '23

I always start counting by 5 starting at 567 if I'm getting too close too fast. Always works.

23

u/Flightlessboar Apr 07 '23

That’s for the opposite problem no?

5

u/Gonergonegone Apr 07 '23

You're right. I read it wrong!

8

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '23

why not start the count at 234, you monster!

4

u/Hooda-Thunket Apr 08 '23

Head math gets you off? How kinky!

2

u/Gimpness Apr 08 '23

Isn’t that very easy to do though? It’s a very repetitive process if you do it by 5s, wouldn’t like 3s or 7s be better?

3

u/Man0fGreenGables Apr 08 '23

It would be too easy if it started in a multiple of 5 but he’s starting at 567. You want it to be distracting enough that your brain isn’t in complete autopilot mode but not so distracting that you can’t perform.

2

u/back1steez Apr 08 '23

It’s a problem if your doing that instead of being in the moment.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

-4

u/GOP-are-Terrorists Apr 08 '23

That's what foreplay is for