There are many possible causes of vaginismus. They are briefly summarized below:

Physical factors:

• Pain in the vagina, which leads to fears of this pain at the next love play and to the woman tightening her pelvic floor muscles.

Psychological factors:

• Fear of pain, the penis, pregnancy or an aversion to the partner.

Social factors:

• Certain norms about sexuality in the education.
• Religious taboos.
• Traumatic experiences like a painful deflowering, assault and rape, sexual abuse or other harmful events.

Relational factors:

Factors in the relationship like resentment and negative feelings about the partner, sexually and in a broader sense.
• Clumsiness of the partner.
• Insufficient foreplay and insufficient arousal.
• Personal difficulties that become evident in the relationship.
• Traditional ideas about sex.

All these factors lead to thoughts or feelings that make the pelvic floor muscles tighten when the penis or tampons come near.