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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Coitus Interruptus

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Synonyms

Onanism

Definition

Mating interruption due to male’s copulatory organ withdrawal previous to a forthcoming ejaculation.

Introduction

Coitus interruptus is a widely diffused practice in humans and is considered the most ancient form of birth control method, being firstly described in the Genesis. Nowadays, there are different lines of thinking in whether considering onanism as a contraceptive method or not. The perception of its effectiveness seems to vary depending on the sociocultural context or the age of the practicants (Sznitman et al. 2009; Gilliam and Hernandez 2007; Higgins et al. 2014), and a common agreement on its efficacy seems to lack also among academics. Some studies pointed out that conception may occur during copulation (i.e., mating) before ejaculation, due to the presence of sperm in the seminal fluid, or that onanism requires experience to be effectively practiced, meaning therefore that coitus interruptus does not represent a valuable and reliable...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Paolo Ghislandi

Authors
  1. Paolo Ghislandi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Ghislandi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Ghislandi, P. (2016). Coitus Interruptus. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_71-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_71-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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