Libido
The libido refers to a psychological energy that, in common parlance, encompasses all forms of sexual desire, but is sometimes also regarded as the driving force behind other needs, such as a mother's love for her infant. The term was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalysis. Initially it referred only to specific sexual needs, but he later expanded the concept to a universal desire, with the id being its "great reservoir". As driving energy behind all life processes, libido became the source of the social engagement, sexual behaviour, pursuit for nutrition, skin pleasure, knowledge and victory in all areas of self- and species preservation.
Equating the libido with the Eros of Platonic philosophy, Freud further differentiated two inherent operators: the life drive and the death drive. Both aspects are working complementary to each other: While the death drive, also called Destrudo or Thanatos, embodies the principle of 'analytical' decomposition of complex phenomenon, the effect of life drive is to reassemble or synthesise the parts of the decomposition in a way that serves the organisms regeneration and reproduction. Freud's most abstract description of libido represents an energetic potential that begins like a bow to tense up unpleasantly in order to pleasantly relax again ; its nature is both physical and psychological. Starting from the id in the fertilised egg, libido initiates also the emergence of two further instances: the ego, and the superego, which specialises in retrievable storage of experiences. Together with libido as their source, these three instances represent the common core of all branches of psychoanalysis.
From a neurobiological point of view, the inner perception and regulation of the various innate needs are mediated through the nucleus accumbens by neurotransmitters and hormones; in relation to sexuality, these are mainly testosterone, oestrogen and dopamine. Each of the needs can be influenced by the others ; but above all, their fulfilment requires the libidinal satisfaction of curiosity. Without this 'research instinct' of mind, the control of bodily motoric would be impossible, the arrow from the bow called life wouldn't do its work. Just as happiness is anchored in the fulfilment of all innate needs, disturbances through social stress resulting from lifestyle, traumatisation in early childhood or during war, mental and bodily illness lead to suffering that is inwardly noticeable and conscious to the ego. Through the capacity of empathy, linguistic and facial expressions of emotion ultimately also affect the human environment.
Different psychological perspectives
Freud
defined libido as "the energy, regarded as a quantitative magnitude... of those instincts which have to do with all that may be comprised under the word 'love'." It is the instinctual energy or force, contained in what Freud called the id, the strictly unconscious structure of the psyche. He also explained that it is analogous to hunger, the will to power, and so on insisting that it is a fundamental instinct that is innate in all humans.Freud pointed out that these libidinal drives can conflict with the conventions of civilised behavior, represented in the psyche by the superego. It is this need to conform to society and control the libido that leads to tension and anxiety in the individual, prompting the use of ego defenses which channel the psychic energy of the unconscious drives into forms that are acceptable to the ego and superego. Excessive use of ego defenses results in neurosis, so a primary goal of psychoanalysis is to make the drives accessible to consciousness, allowing them to be addressed directly, thus reducing the patient's automatic resort to ego defenses.
Freud viewed libido as passing through a series of developmental stages in the individual, in which the libido fixates on different erogenous zones: first the oral stage, then the anal stage, then the phallic stage, through a latency stage in which the libido is dormant, to its reemergence at puberty in the genital stage. Failure to adequately adapt to the demands of these different stages could result in libidinal energy becoming 'dammed up' or fixated in these stages, producing certain pathological character traits in adulthood.
Jung
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung identified the libido with psychic energy in general. According to Jung, 'energy', in its subjective and psychological sense, is 'desire', of which sexual desire is just one aspect. Libido thus denotes "a desire or impulse which is unchecked by any kind of authority, moral or otherwise. Libido is appetite in its natural state. From the genetic point of view it is bodily needs like hunger, thirst, sleep, and sex, and emotional states or affects, which constitute the essence of libido." It is "the energy that manifests itself in the life process and is perceived subjectively as striving and desire." He describes libido as manifesting through five primary instincts: hunger, sexuality, activity, reflection, and creativity. Duality creates the energy of the psyche, which Jung asserts expresses itself only through symbols. These symbols may manifest as "fantasy-images" in the process of psychoanalysis, giving subjective expression to the contents of the libido, which otherwise lacks any definite form. Desire, conceived generally as a psychic longing, movement, displacement and structuring, manifests itself in definable forms which are apprehended through analysis.Further psychological and social viewpoints
A person may have a desire for sex, but not have the opportunity to act on that desire, or may on personal, moral or religious reasons refrain from acting on the urge. Psychologically, a person's urge can be repressed or sublimated. Conversely, a person can engage in sexual activity without an actual desire for it. Multiple factors affect human sex drive, including stress, illness, pregnancy, and others. A large 2022 review, using more than 620,000 people and 211 studies, found that men had higher sex drives than women on average, and that one-third of women had a higher sex drive than the average man. The study found an 80% overlap in the sex drives of men and women, and that the effects of the difference were "medium" in size. However, a 2024 comprehensive review challenged the interpretation that these self-reported differences reflect inherent biological differences in sexual motivation. Touraille and Ågmo examined evidence from both humans and non-human mammals, finding that sex differences in sexual motivation depend heavily on measurement methods.In rodent studies, when sexual motivation was measured through approach behaviors in procedures without aversive elements, no sex differences emerged. Earlier studies using the Columbia Obstruction Box actually found female rats were more motivated than males, or showed no difference—never finding males superior to females. In non-human primates, observational data from species including gray mouse lemurs, chimpanzees, and bonobos showed comparable rates of sexual activity and numbers of partners between males and females, with both sexes displaying promiscuous mating patterns.
In humans, when sexual motivation is measured through automatic physiological responses—including genital arousal to sexual stimuli, attentional allocation to sexual content, implicit motivation tests, and spinal reflex facilitation—sex differences consistently disappear. Touraille and Ågmo suggest that the sex differences found in self-report questionnaires may reflect social learning of sexual scripts, response bias due to gender norms, and the documented lower quality of sexual experiences reported by women, rather than reflecting true differences in underlying sexual motivation. They conclude that males and females across mammalian species, including humans, appear similar with regard to the inherent intensity of sexual motivation.
Other studies have found that women report similar sexual habits as men, such as masturbation frequency, under the impression of a lie detector. The study reported that "sex differences in self-reported sexual behavior were negligible in a bogus pipeline condition in which participants believed lying could be detected."
A 2012 study found that, in couples who has been together at least a year, differences in sex drive were non-significant and more similar than different.
Another 2012 study found that testosterone did not account for sexual differences between men and women.
Certain psychological or social factors can reduce the desire for sex. These factors can include lack of privacy or intimacy, stress or fatigue, distraction, safety social stigma, or depression. Environmental stress, such as prolonged exposure to elevated sound levels or bright light, can also affect libido. Other causes include experience of sexual abuse, assault, trauma, or neglect, body image issues, and anxiety about engaging in sexual activity. Women whose first sexual experience was pleasant report the same sex drive as men.
Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder may find themselves with reduced sexual desire. Struggling to find pleasure, as well as having trust issues, many with PTSD experience feelings of vulnerability, rage and anger, and emotional shutdowns, which have been shown to inhibit sexual desire in those with PTSD. Reduced sex drive may also be present in trauma victims due to issues arising in sexual function. For women, it has been found that treatment can improve sexual function, thus helping restore sexual desire. Depression and libido decline often coincide, with reduced sex drive being one of the symptoms of depression. Those with depression often report the decline in libido to be far reaching and more noticeable than other symptoms. In addition, those with depression often are reluctant to report their reduced sex drive, often normalizing it with cultural/social values, or by the failure of the physician to inquire about it.
Sexual desires are often an important factor in the formation and maintenance of intimate relationships in humans. A lack or loss of sexual desire can adversely affect relationships. Changes in the sexual desires of any partner in a sexual relationship, if sustained and unresolved, may cause problems in the relationship. The infidelity of a partner may be an indication that a partner's changing sexual desires can no longer be satisfied within the current relationship. Problems can arise from disparity of sexual desires between partners, or poor communication between partners of sexual needs and preferences.