Masturbation Among Women: Associated Factors and Sexual Response in a Portuguese Community Sample

Abstract

Masturbation is a common sexual practice with significant variations in reported incidence between men and women. The goal of this study was to explore the (1) age at initiation and frequency of masturbation, (2) associations of masturbation with diverse variables, (3) reported reasons for masturbating and associated emotions, and (4) the relationship between frequency of masturbation and different sexual behavioral factors. A total of 3,687 women completed a web-based survey of previously pilot-tested items. The results reveal a high reported incidence of masturbation practices amongst this convenience sample of women. Ninety one percent of women, in this sample, indicated that they had masturbated at some point in their lives with 29.3% reporting having masturbated within the previous month. Masturbation behavior appears to be related to a greater sexual repertoire, more sexual fantasies, and greater reported ease in reaching sexual arousal and orgasm. Women reported a diversity of reasons for masturbation, as well as a variety of direct and indirect techniques. A minority of women reported feeling shame and guilt associated with masturbation. Early masturbation experience might be beneficial to sexual arousal and orgasm in adulthood. Further, this study demonstrates that masturbation is a positive component in the structuring of female sexuality. Introduction:

Implicit and Explicit Sexual Attitudes: How Are They Related to Sexual Desire and Sexual Satisfaction in Men and Women?

“…Indeed, our results showed that expressing explicit attitudes that reflect one's automatic associations, even if they are not positive, is associated with greater well-being and satisfaction than having positive implicit and negative explicit sexual attitudes. Although it is merely speculative at this point, this finding could explain why some people do not suffer from sexual dissatisfaction and=or sexual distress even though they have low or absent sexual desire (e.g., Brotto, Knudson, Inskip, Rhodes, & Erskine, 2010). On the other hand, individuals with positive implicit and negative explicit sexual attitudes may be people who experience an intrinsically spontaneous and uncontrolled high level of sexual desire that is perceived as problematic and=or leads to adverse consequences and dissatisfaction (e.g., risky sexual activities, conflicts with the partner; Kafka, 2010).…”

Trajectories of intimate partnerships, sexual attitudes, desire and satisfaction

“…Therefore, all individuals do not have the same social representations or the same norms when it comes to sexuality and are not expected to put the same set of values to it (Carpenter, 2010;Gagnon, 2008;Green, 2008a,b;Levine, 2002). In this perspective, it appears that individuals with more permissive attitudes have more frequent and diverse sexual activities (DeLamater, 1987;Gerressu, Mercer, Graham, Wellings, & Johnson, 2008;Laumann et al, 1994;Weinberg, Lottes, & Gordon, 1997) and greater acceptance toward non-coital intercourses and solitary sex (Carvalheira & Leal, 2013). In contrast, individuals with more conservative attitudes develop less frequent sexual activities and a lower diversity of sexual practices (Davidson & Moore, 1994;DeLamater, 1987;Laumann et al, 1994;Lefkowitz et al, 2004;Luquis, Brelsford, & Rojas-Guyler, 2012;Moore & Davidson, 2006;Udry & Campbell, 1994).…”

“…As research results often point out the fact that attitudes toward sexuality are associated to sexual behavior (Lefkowitz et al, 2004;Luquis et al, 2012;Nikken & Graaf, 2013;Weeden & Sabini, 2007), solitary and dyadic sexual desires might be also related to specific sexual attitudes as well as to trajectories of partnerships. For instance, solitary sexual desire and activities are perceived as positive by some individuals, while for others, they are perceived as negative or even shameful sexual activities (Carvalheira & Leal, 2013;Costa, 2012;Davidson & Moore, 1994;Gerressu et al, 2008;Jaspard, 2005;Kaestle & Allen, 2011). Therefore, we expect that individuals who have developed intimate trajectories characterized by numerous partnerships facilitating permissive attitudes toward sexuality have greater solitary and dyadic desires, while those with few partnerships, which supposedly are associated with more conservative attitudes toward sexuality, might have lower solitary and dyadic desires.…”

“It’s Happiness and Relief and Release”: Exploring Masturbation Among Bisexual and Queer Women

“…Research has found associations between masturbation and negative outcomes, such as depression (Brody & Nicholson, 2013;Frohlich & Meston, 2002) and guilt (Bowman, 2014;Carvalheira & Leal, 2013). Bowman (2014) and Carvalheira and Leal (2013) found that women commonly reported shame or guilt as an emotional reaction to their masturbation, resulting in a decreased likelihood of positive physical and psychological outcomes associated with masturbation (Davidson & Darling, 1993). As masturbation is stigmatized by society, the guilt that results may be from the internalization of these messages, as opposed to the actual act of masturbation (Coleman, 2003).…”

“…Although some women report guilt and shame associated with their masturbation, positive experiences, such as empowerment, are also connected to women's masturbation (Bowman, 2014). Additionally, women who engaged in masturbation reported decreased difficulties in arousal and lowered sexual inhibition (Carvalheira & Leal, 2013). Furthermore, women who had an orgasm during masturbation reported greater sexual desire, higher self-esteem, greater marital and sexual satisfaction, and less time to sexual arousal than women who reported not having an orgasm during masturbation (Hurlbert & Whittaker, 1991).…”