妻子和丈夫朋友太熟会影响性生活

The study found partner betweenness undermines men's feelings of autonomy and privacy, which are central to traditional concepts of masculinity.

Middle-aged men are more likely to have a poor sex life if their wife is close to their friends because it undermines their masculinity, a study has found.

Researchers concluded that the social networks shared by men and their female partners could have a link to erectile dysfunction.

The study, from Cornell University, found that in middle aged and older men, when the woman gets on better with his friends than he does his sex life suffers.

The phenonomon was dubbed "partner betweeness", in which a romantic partner comes between a man and his friends.

Prof Benjamin Cornwell, who led the research, said: "Men who experience partner betweenness in their joint relationships are more likely to have trouble getting or maintaining an erection and are also more likely to experience difficulty achieving orgasm during sex.

The study found partner betweenness undermines men's feelings of autonomy and privacy, which are central to traditional concepts of masculinity.

This can in turn lead to overt conflict or problems with partner satisfaction and attraction.

The authors said there was nothing wrong with the wife organising most of their social activities because females tended to be more organised.

But they added that reducing a man's contact with his friends to the point that a couple only socialised together was not healthy, suggesting that so called "boys nights" could, in fact, be a good thing.

"The key issue is whether it reduces his contact with his friends while it increases hers, for example she alters his social schedule to the point that his contact with his friends increasingly occurs in the context of couple’s dinners," he said.

"A man’s ability to play a round of golf or to have a few drinks with a friend who has only a passing acquaintance to his wife or girlfriend is crucial to preserving some independence in everyday life.

"If he has to bring his wife along every time they meet, or his wife starts monopolising that friend, that’s when problems may arise.’

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

一项研究发现，如果中年男性的妻子和他们的朋友太熟，中年男性性生活糟糕的可能性更大，因为他们的男子气概因此而受损了。

研究人员得出结论说，男性和自己的另一半共享社交圈可能会导致勃起功能障碍。

康奈尔大学的这一研究发现，如果中老年男性的妻子和他们的朋友相处得比自己还好，中老年男性的性生活就会受到影响。

这种现象被称作“另一半插足”，也就是另一半插足于男人和他的朋友之间。

该研究的领头人本加明•康威尔教授说：“那些妻子插足于自己和朋友之间的男性更可能发生勃起障碍或无法长时间勃起，而且更难在性生活中达到高潮。”

研究发现，另一半插足会有损男性在自主权和隐私方面的安全感，而这对传统的男子气概很重要。

这会转而引发和伴侣的公开冲突或对伴侣的不满，以及伴侣吸引力的下降。

研究报告作者称，妻子组织家里的大部分社交活动并没有什么错，因为女性一般做事更有条理。

但是他们补充道，减少男性和他的朋友的联系，甚至所有的社交活动都是夫妇两人一同参加，这是不健康的。研究人员指出，其实所谓的“男性聚会”是件好事。

他说：“关键问题在于妻子是否在减少他和朋友的接触的同时，增加了她和这些朋友的接触。例如，她改动他的社交日程表，让他和他的朋友的接触越来越多地发生在夫妇两人一同出席的饭桌上。”

“一个男人可以与和妻子或女友不熟识的朋友打一圈高尔夫或小酌几杯，这一点对于男人在日常生活中保持一定独立性是很重要的。

“如果他每次和朋友见面都必须带上妻子，或他的妻子开始独占他的朋友，这时候问题就会出现了。”

Vocabulary:

undermine: 暗中破坏；逐渐损害

erectile dysfunction: 勃起功能障碍

orgasm: 性高潮

autonomy: 自主权

overt: 公然的

passing acquaintance: 一面之交

monopolize: 独占