Using Masturbation in Sex Therapy

Abstract

Masturbation may be useful in treating hypoactive sexual desire disorder. To examine this possibility, the current study examined the relationships between masturbation, sexual desire, sexual fantasy, and dyadic sexual activity. The relationships between masturbation and other constructs were also examined: overall sexual dysfunction, relationship satisfaction, life stress, and sexual attitudes. Mediational analyses suggest several causal pathways between masturbatory desire, masturbatory frequency, sexual fantasy, sexual desire, and sexual activity. Developing a model of masturbation may help illustrate its role in sexual functioning and highlight its potential role in sex therapy.     

Would You Say You “Had Masturbated” If … ?: The Influence of Situational and Individual Factors on Labeling a Behavior as Masturbation

The term masturbation is often not clearly defined despite its prevalent use in sex education, sex research, and clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to understand what behaviors are typically considered to be masturbation as well as the situational and individual variables that may affect the labeling of a behavior as such. An online study of 564 individuals demonstrated that a wide variety of behaviors were considered to be masturbation by a majority of participants. No difference was found between men and women in the total number of behaviors labeled as masturbation. Both men and women were more likely to label a behavior as masturbation (1) if there was no sexual partner present than if there was and (2) if an orgasm occurred than if it did not. In addition, women were more likely than men to label a behavior as masturbation if they were alone and if no orgasm occurred. Younger age was associated with labeling more behaviors as masturbation, but sexual identity, self-pleasuring experience, partnered sexual experience, and attitudes toward masturbation were not related to the number of behaviors labeled as masturbation. Results speak to the importance of behavioral specificity when discussing masturbation with students, clients, and in sex research.     

Masturbation and Sexual Health

Abstract

In this study we applied research examining the hypothesized benefits of masturbation in dealing with sexual problems to the urgent health crisis posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is the first study to test the hypothesized relationship between masturbation and HIV risk as predicted by the Sexual Health Model, a sex-positive approach to sexual health developed in response to the need for a more explicit focus on sexuality and relationships in HIV prevention. This is also the first study to examine the relationship between several masturbation variables (i.e., masturbation guilt, lifetime masturbation, and current masturbation) and HIV-related sexual behaviors and attitudes in a sample of African American women (N =239). Data was collected using face-to-face structured interviews as part of the Women's Initiative for Sexual Health (WISH), a randomized, controlled trial of an HIV prevention intervention based on the Sexual Health Model, targeting low income, adult African American women. Contrary to expectations, results showed that participants who reported masturbating were more likely to report having multiple partners, being in a nonmonogamous relationship and engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors. There was no significant relationship between level of masturbation guilt and HIV risk nor between masturbation and consistent condom use or attitudes toward condoms. This study adds to the growing empirical support for associations between sexual health variables and safer sex and argues for a more explicit focus on sexuality in HIV prevention.     

Genital perceptions and sexual activity in a college population

Anecdotal evidence suggests that perceptions of the genitals—one's own and one's partner's—may be related to enjoyment of sexual activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among genital perceptions and performing and receiving oral sex, penile‐vaginal intercourse, and masturbation. Participants were 160 male and 160 female students at a large Midwestern university. Participants completed a questionnaire in which they indicated how well self‐statements describing genital perceptions and reasons for engaging in and not engaging in sexual activity applied to themselves. The results showed significant correlations between genital perceptions and sexual activity, such that higher levels of participation in and enjoyment of sexual activity, especially oral‐genital behavior, were associated with more positive and fewer negative genital perceptions. Men had more positive genital perceptions than did women for both their own and their sexual partner's genitals. These results are consistent with cultural sexual stereotypes and have implications for sex education and clinical work.     

Masturbation Experiences of Swedish Senior High School Students: Gender Differences and Similarities

Research about masturbation tends to be limited to the assessment of masturbation incidence and frequency. Consequently, little is known about what people experience connected to masturbation. This might be one reason why theoretical approaches that specifically address the persistent gender gap in masturbation frequency are lacking. The aim of the current study was to explore several aspects of masturbation in young men and women, and to examine possible associations with their social backgrounds and sexual histories. Data from 1,566 women and 1,452 men (ages 18 to 22) from 52 Swedish senior high schools were analyzed. Comparisons between men and women were made regarding incidence of and age at first masturbation, the use of objects (e.g., sex toys), fantasies, and sexual functioning during masturbation, as well as about their attitudes toward masturbation and sexual fantasies. Cluster analysis was carried out to identify similarities between and differences within the gender groups. While overall more men than women reported experience with several of the investigated aspects, cluster analyses revealed that a large proportion of men and women reported similar experiences and that fewer experiences are not necessarily associated with negative attitudes toward masturbation. Implications of these findings are discussed in consideration of particular social backgrounds.     

Psychosexual Correlates of Sexual Double Standard Endorsement in Adolescent Sexuality

Endorsement and enactment of the (hetero)sexual double standard (SDS), prescribing sexual modesty for girls and sexual prowess for boys, has been shown to be negatively related to sexual and mental health. To be able to challenge the SDS, more insight is needed into the conditions that shape gendered sexual attitudes. A survey was conducted among 465 heterosexual adolescents (aged 16–20 years), examining the relationship between a number of relevant demographic and psychosexual variables and SDS endorsement. SDS endorsement was assessed using a newly developed instrument, the Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards Among Youth (SASSY). Gender (being male) and religiousness were significantly associated with increased SDS endorsement. For both boys and girls, increased feelings of entitlement to self-induced sexual pleasure (e.g., masturbation) were significantly associated with reduced SDS endorsement, whereas higher gender investment was significantly associated with increased SDS endorsement. Furthermore, increased feelings of entitlement to partner-induced sexual pleasure and more frequent talking about sexuality with peers were associated with increased SDS endorsement among boys but not among girls. We conclude that future research should explore peer influence processes through peer communication about sex, gender investment, and feelings of entitlement to both self and partner-induced sexual pleasure.     

Effects of Love and Liking in Premarital Dyads

Abstract

Rubin's love-liking scale (1970) is used to investigate the role of love (a concept specific to the Western world's romantic sentiment complex) and liking (a more general concept relating to bases of interpersonal attraction other than love) in premarital dyadic processes. Reinforcement theory (Miller and Siegel, 1972) is used to formulate hypotheses of four kinds of effects of love and liking: (1) Effects on stage of relationship and break-up of it. (2) Subjective effects, i.e., effects of loving and liking one's dating partner in terms of happiness, tension, and communicative agreement. (3) Synergic effects, i.e., effects of being loved and being liked in terms of the same variables. (4) Mutuality, the degree to which loving and liking and other feelings are reciprocated between partners. Love was found related to dating stage for both sexes but not related to break-up for either sex. Liking was found to be related to both dating stage and break-up for males but not for females. Neither subjective nor synergic effects were found for love, but both effects were found for liking. Mutuality was found for happiness and tension but not for love or liking. It was concluded that love is not dependent on reinforcement principles but that liking is. Futher discussion on detailed aspects is offered.     

A Dyadic Approach to Understanding the Link Between Sexual Functioning and Sexual Satisfaction in Heterosexual Couples

Researchers have demonstrated that several dimensions of sexual functioning (e.g., sexual desire, arousal, orgasm) are associated with the sexual satisfaction of individuals in a committed mixed-sex (male–female) relationship. We extended this research by comparing a dyadic model that included both own (i.e., actor effect) and partner (i.e., partner effect) domains of sexual functioning to an individual model that included only actor effects. Participants were 124 mixed-sex couples who completed online measures of sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction. Data analysis using the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that the dyadic model had a better fit than the individual model. Women’s sexual desire and orgasm and men’s erectile functioning were significant positive predictors of both own and partner’s sexual satisfaction. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of taking a dyadic approach to research and clinical work related to sexual satisfaction.     

Exploring the abortion problem in Canada

A scale designed to measure attraction to sexual aggression is described, based on earlier work assessing self‐reported likelihood of committing rape. This scale's associations with measures of theoretically relevant attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral inclinations are examined in comparison with briefer measures, and with a number of other scales measuring attraction to various types of sexual interactions. These include conventional sex (e.g., heterosexual intercourse), homosexuality, bondage, unconventional sex (e.g., group sex), and deviant sex (e.g., pedophilia). Data supporting the longer and shorter versions of the attraction to sexual aggression scale are presented, showing internal consistency, test‐retest reliability, and discriminant and construct validity. As well, a number of issues raised by critiques of research in this area are addressed empirically.     

The Effects of Gender and Relationship Context Cues on Responsive Sexual Desire in Exclusively and Predominantly Androphilic Women and Gynephilic Men

Sexual desire may be “responsive,” emerging from sexual arousal to sexually competent cues. Cues that elicit sexual arousal and desire differ, however, by gender and direction of sexual attractions. Further, relationship context cues are thought to be important for responsive desire, but this has not been tested directly. The current study examined gynephilic men’s (n = 27) and exclusively (n = 23) and predominantly (n = 17) androphilic women’s dyadic and solitary responsive sexual desire, as well as genital and self-reported arousal, to audio narratives varying by gender (male, female) of the sexual partner and relationship context (stranger, friend, long-term relationship). Consistent with previous literature, gynephilic men’s solitary and dyadic desire were gender-specific (greater to female than to male sexual partners). Exclusively androphilic women’s dyadic desire differentiated less to cues of gender than gynephilic men’s, and their solitary desire did not differentiate by gender cues at all, replicating previous research. Androphilic women with some gynephilia reported a gender-nonspecific pattern of dyadic and solitary desire (i.e., responsive desire to both male and female narratives). No effect of relationship context was found for any groups. Results suggest that responsive sexual desire may be more closely associated with self-reported than genital arousal patterns.     

Masturbation as a Means of Achieving Sexual Health

Abstract

Research on masturbation has indicated that, contrary to traditional beliefs, masturbation has been found to be a common sexual behavior and linked to indicators of sexual health. While there are no general indicators of ill health associated with masturbation, it can be powerfully negative or positive for many individuals. As an example, it is widely used in sex therapy as a means of improving the sexual health of the individual and/or relationship. Promoting masturbation as a means of a public health strategy for sexual health is highly controversial; however, there are arguments and evidence that suggest that this may be an important part of any public health approach to improving sexual health. There is a need for more research on the impact of masturbation on self-esteem, body image, sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction and methods for using masturbation to promote sexual health. There is also a need for more of a theoretical approach to the formation of hypotheses to be tested.     

Patterns of Masturbatory Behaviour

Abstract

In 1966, 1981 and 1996 the Department of Sex Research at Hamburg University, Germany, carried out three surveys into the sexual behavior of university students. Taken as a longitudinal study they provide information on the social history of sexuality over the past three decades for well-educated young adults (20 to 30 years old) in Germany. The samples consist of 8,641 men and women. In this paper data from the studies is analyzed under two aspects:

1. Shifts in masturbatory behavior 1966–1981–1996. Men and especially women begin to masturbate considerably earlier than used to be in the eighties, not to mention in the sixties. As a consequence, most young women nowadays have already experienced masturbation when having their first heterosexual intercoursethus following a pattern of sexual socialization that traditionally was typical for boys. In addition, in 1996, more students of both sexes had masturbated in the year preceding the investigation. The more relevant point is, however, that young adults (according to active incidence during the last 12 months) now masturbate almost irrespective of whether they have intercourse often or rarely, whether they are singles or live in a steady relationship or whether or not they are satisfied with their current relationship. So masturbation peacefully coexists with sex between partners and a loving relationship more often than it did in 1981 and 1966.

2. Masturbation in steady relationships, 1996. A detailed analysis of masturbation frequencies during the last four weeks also shows small differences between students who live in a sexually satisfying relationship and those without relationship. Only a minority feels the need to justify masturbation on the grounds that they lack sex with their partner. Three-quarters expressly state that masturbation is a form of sex in its own right and, therefore, does not interfere with partner sex. Furthermore, there is a tendency that students living in steady relationships experience masturbation slightly more positively than those living alone.     

The Relationship Between Sexual Concordance and Orgasm Consistency in Women

Sexual concordance (the relationship between genital and self-reported sexual responses) may be associated with orgasm consistency (OC; the proportion of sexual acts leading to orgasm) during penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) in women. We investigated the relationship between women’s sexual concordance (assessed using different stimulus modalities and self-reported sexual arousal methods) and OC during various sexual activities (assessed using different types of questions). For Study 1 (n = 51), when sexual concordance was assessed using audiovisual sexual stimuli, we did not find a statistically significant relationship between OC and poststimulus self-reports of sexual arousal or genital sensations, raw values of OC, or ranges of OC. For Study 2 (n = 44), where sexual concordance was assessed using audionarrative sexual stimuli, we did find a statistically significant relationship between PVI OC and sexual concordance using change in self-reported sexual arousal, and ranges of orgasm consistency. Two findings were inconsistent with previous research. First, OC varied significantly by activity type in both studies; masturbation yielded the highest OC. Second, PVI OC was significantly related to oral sex and masturbation OC (Study 2). We discuss the need for further research and various factors that may affect women’s orgasm consistency and sexual concordance.     

Japanese Gay Magazines and Marriage Advertisements

Among other functions, Japanese gay magazines inform readers about gay meeting places, provide a masturbation aid, let readers know that they are not alone, and give an image of gay men different from the mainstream media, which often confuses homosexuals with transvestites. Unfortunately, gay magazines also present an image that is not entirely positive, i.e., gay men as sex maniacs. Personal advertisement sections play a role in bringing together gay men as friends and lovers. One magazine, Barazoku, contains a section for marriage advertisements. Remaining unmarried in Japan in many cases still implies that one will be a social outcast. For this reason many gay men marry, usually without informing their spouses about their sexual orientation. Barazoku assists gay people in finding a partner who knows about, and accepts one's sexuality. Gay groups interested in politics sometimes criticize homosexuals who get married for having camouflage marriages (giso kekkon), and Ito Bungaku, the publisher of Barazoku, for supporting this. However, the contents of ads indicate that most advertisers want to have something that resembles a usual marriage.     

Exploring the Role of Being Out on a Queer Person's Self-Compassion

Recent changes in societal attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities have resulted in more people openly identifying with sexual minority status. Due to research on the effects of denying one's sexual orientation and the negative effects of this, many have advocated for more openness in queer sexual orientation. Compassion means connecting to the suffering of others not by avoiding their pain but instead by identifying it so that the feeling of kindness may emerge. Self-compassion, therefore, involves being touched by and open to one's own suffering, not avoiding or disconnecting from it, generating the desire to alleviate one's suffering and to heal oneself with kindness. The purpose of the research is to understand the impact that being out has on a queer person's self-compassion. The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-item, 5-point Likert measure, where a higher score equated to higher self-compassion and looked at how a person showed loving kindness to one's self through the six dimensions of self-compassion. The six dimensions of self-compassion are mindfulness, over-identification, self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, and isolation. Results showed that those who are totally out have a higher sense of self-compassion. Implications for practitioners working with the queer population are also discussed.     

The sexuality scale: An instrument to measure sexual‐esteem,sexual‐depression,and sexual‐preoccupation

This article describes the development of the Sexuality Scale, an instrument designed to measure three aspects of human sexuality: sexual‐esteem, defined as positive regard for and confidence in the capacity to experience one's sexuality in a satisfying and enjoyable way; sexual‐depression, defined as the experience of feelings of depression regarding one's sex life; and sexual‐preoccupation, defined as the tendency to think about sex to an excessive degree. The procedure involved (a) item construction, selection and subsequent validation through item analysis; and (b) a factor analysis of the items on the Sexuality Scale and the establishment of factorial validity. The results indicated that the three subscales were psychometrically sound, that males reported more sexual‐preoccupation than did females, and that the three subscales have unique intercorrelation patterns. The exploratory nature of these findings are discussed.     

Scope and nature of sexual harassment in nursing

The Sexuality Scale (SS; Snell &; Papini, 1989) was designed to measure sexual‐esteem, (the dispositional tendency to evaluate positively one's capacity to relate sexually to others), sexual‐depression, (the chronic tendency to feel depressed about the sexual aspects of one's life), and sexual‐preoccupation, (the persistent tendency to be absorbed and obsessed with sexual matters). The purpose of the present research was to provide evidence from two separate studies for the reliability and validity of the Sexuality Scale. The results indicated that all three SS subscales had high reliability (both test‐retest and internal consistency). Other findings indicated that the dispositional sexual tendencies measured by the Sexuality Scale were related in predictable ways to men's and women's reports of their sexual behaviors and attitudes.     

Parenting and Adolescents' Sexual Initiation

This study draws on social control and social learning theories to examine the role of dating‐specific attitudes and practices as predictors of adolescents' sexual initiation. We include attention to the adolescent's reaction to control attempts as a further means of assessing family dynamics (i.e., frequency of dating disagreements). The study uses longitudinal data from 697 adolescents who were not sexually active at the first interview as well as separate interviews with parents. In models that include all parenting variables, parental caring, parents' preferences that the child should delay sex, and the frequency of dating disagreements were significant predictors of initiation of teen sexual activity.