There is dispute as to whether premature ejaculation should be counted an instance of impotence. It is evidently a sign of male inadequacy and is commoner than, say, erectile impotence.

Kinsey however refused to recognise premature ejaculation as a problem for the male, though it evidently caused distress to a woman. Kinsey noted, in justification, that many mammals ejaculate very rapidly.

Some sexologists have retorted that premature ejaculation is definitely a problem for the man. Thus Brecher remarks that "It seems to me very clear that on this point Kinsey was quite wrong. The later Masters-Johnson studies of premature ejaculation reveal in precisely what respects he was wrong."