American scientists from Columbia University in New York studied the effect of masturbation on the mental health of men and women. The article was published in the scientific journal magazine Archives of Sexual Behavior (ASB).
Previous studies have shown that masturbation has a positive effect on mood and reduces stress. At the same time, personal satisfaction is a concern due to the risk of developing psychological dependence.
To examine the positive and negative aspects of masturbation, scientists studied the reactions of more than 12,200 people between the ages of 18 and 49.
Participants were asked how often they masturbate and how often they would like to do this activity. Volunteers also described how they felt about their sexuality; whether this causes feelings of guilt, stress, regret, shame or dissatisfaction.
The research revealed that men masturbate an average of 3.18 times a week, while women masturbate an average of 1.62 times a week. This difference in frequency was statistically significant.
However, men did not report higher levels of sexual tension than women. Instead, what was more important was how people felt about their masturbation habits.
Both men and women who masturbated more or less than they wanted tended to report higher feelings of sexual dissatisfaction. This suggests that it is not the act of masturbation itself that affects mental well-being, but rather the sense of control over one’s sexual behavior.
There was a slightly negative difference between men’s actual and desired frequency of masturbation (-0.47), meaning that on average they masturbated slightly less than they wanted to. There was almost zero difference between women’s actual and desired frequency of masturbation (-0.01), indicating that they were closer to the desired frequency.
It was also revealed that a significant portion of both men (30.2%) and women (11.9%) reported that they masturbate more often than they would like. The opposite situation was observed in 6.3 percent of men and 2.1 percent of women.
The study also examined the impact of childhood trauma and family environment on self-reported problematic masturbation. It turns out that people who were sexually abused in childhood are more likely to perceive their masturbation habits as problematic. Conversely, growing up in a sex-positive family environment seemed to reduce feelings of stress associated with masturbation.
Previous scientists clarified Secrets of effective masturbation.