From the article: An online survey of Italian men found that body image self-consciousness contributes to sexual distress. In other words, being aware of how one’s body looks like during physical intimacy with one’s partner contributes to feelings of frustration, anxiety and worry regarding sexual activity. The study was published in the journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy.

Sexual health contributes to one’s overall quality of life. Pleasant sexual activities are an important component of the overall well-being of a person. Due to this, sexual dysfunction or the lack of sexual satisfaction creates a potentially negative impact on the quality of life.

Studies of sexual health done on women have shown the importance of body image self-consciousness for sexual functioning. In extreme cases, negative body image self-consciousness can impair sexual functioning, but positive body image self-consciousness has been shown to contribute to better sexual functioning in both women and men.

Previous studies have found that body image dissatisfaction tends to be greater in women than in men. However, men are also affected by body dissatisfaction and the social imposed standards of masculinity and muscularity.