Masturbation in the United States

Abstract

Using data from the nationally representative National Health and Social Life Survey, this study queried the correlates of masturbation in the United States in 1992. Among those aged 18–60, 38% (CI, 35–41) of women and 61% (CI, 57–65) of men reported any masturbation over the preceding year. The system of factors underlying masturbation was similar for both genders, consistent with a convergence in gender patterns of sexual expression in the United States. Among both women and men, masturbation responded to a stable sexualized personality pattern, catalyzed by early-life factors and manifested in current sexual traits. Strikingly, the masturbation-partnered sex linkage, often conceptualized either as compensating for unsatisfying sex or complementing a satisfactory sex life, appeared to be bimodal for both genders. For some, masturbation complemented an active and pleasurable sex life, while among others, it compensated for a lack of partnered sex or satisfaction in sex.

Notes

^tstatistics in parentheses.

^†significant at 10%.

∗significant at 5%.

∗∗significant at 1%.