Abstract
Despite well-documented individual, relational, and health benefits, masturbation has been stigmatized and is understudied compared to partnered sex. In a US nationally representative survey of adults, we aimed to: (1) assess the prevalence and frequency of participants’ prior-year masturbation, (2) describe reasons people give for not masturbating, (3) describe reasons people give for masturbating, and (4) examine the association between masturbation frequency and actual/desired partnered sex frequency in the prior year. Significantly more men than women reported lifetime masturbation, past month masturbation, and greater masturbation frequency. The most frequently endorsed reasons for masturbating related to pleasure, feeling “horny,” stress relief, and relaxation. The most frequently endorsed reasons for not masturbating were lack of interest, being in a committed relationship, conflict with morals or values, or being against one’s religion. Among women, those who desired partnered sex much more often and a little more often were 3.89 times (95% CI: 2.98, 5.08) and 2.07 times (95% CI: 1.63, 2.62), respectively, more likely to report higher frequencies of past-year masturbation than those who desired no change in their partnered sex frequency. Among men, those who desired partnered sex much more often and a little more often were 4.40 times (95% CI: 3.41, 5.68) and 2.37 times (95% CI: 1.84, 3.06), respectively, more likely to report higher frequencies of past-year masturbation activity than those who reported that they desired no change in their current partnered sex frequency. Findings provide contemporary U.S. population-level data on patterns of adult masturbation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1317-1331 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Archives of sexual behavior |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Institutional Review Board at the first author’s university reviewed and approved measures and protocols associated with the research. Data were from the 2021 National Survey of Sexual Wellbeing, a U.S. nationally representative survey of adults ages 18 and over (with no upper age limit for sampling). Funding for this study was provided by Roman Health Ventures, LLC (see acknowledgements). Individuals were recruited in May and June 2021 from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®, which is a probability-based online panel. During this time period, COVID vaccines were available to most adults though COVID-19 safety guidance (e.g., masking, physical distancing, restrictions on capacity and crowd) varied widely within the USA. The Ipsos KnowledgePanel® has been used for numerous U.S. nationally representative surveys including on topics related to health and sexuality (Fu et al., ; Primack et al., ; Raifman et al., ; Rowen et al., ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Covid-19
- Masturbation
- Sexual behavior
- Sexual desire
- Sexual frequency