THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
SEX ON THE HILL
5D
STOP LURKING
Some scientists say masturbation could be beneficial for your health
BY NORA SIMON nsimon@kansan.com
Masturbation is still one of those taboos subjects that many people don't understand or simply don't want to talk about. Researchers at the University, however, have made it their business to discover how different people perceive this often misunderstood facet of human sexuality.
Charlene Muehlenhard, professor of psychology, has been researching opinions about masturbation since 2004. The research is supposed to help get a "better idea of people's attitudes" toward masturbation, Muehlenhard said.
("In the) first study we were really interested in learning more about the topic, the meanings of masturbation," Muehlenhard said.
This round of research is different because studies usually only give the percentage of men and women who say they masturbate, not the individual's attitude toward it, Muehlenhard said. For the studies, groups of male and female college students completed a questionnaire, which the researchers created based on a pilot study with open-ended questions to judge their feelings about masturbation.
Chantal Young, Washington, D.C., graduate student, wrote her thesis, titled "The Meanings of Masturbation," while working on the research with Muehlenhard. Young said she wanted to study masturbation because no standards exist to measure people's attitudes in research and because attitudes about masturbation can have important effects in clinical settings. Its role as both a societal and academic taboo also interested her, she said.
"Masturbation is useful as a clinical tool and has been used to treat orgasmic disorders, premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, erectile difficulty and general sexual issues." Young said.
Young said the results of the study revealed extreme variations in opinion. The opinions were categorized into four groups: enthusiastic, high-guilt, ambivalent and lukewarm,
"Some (people) feel extremely positively about masturbation and believe that it is essential to sexual, emotional and physical health." Young said. "Others feel extremely negatively and find it to be disgusting, immoral or against their system of values. And many people seem to have conflicting attitudes toward masturbation — for example maybe they enjoy doing it but feel guilty afterward. This reflects ambivalence."
The study pinpoints the top reasons why people choose to masturbate and common emotions associated with it. The study found the top five reasons for masturbating to be pleasure, self exploration and improvement, mood improvement, relaxation and stress relief, and avoidance of partner sex. The top five reasons for not masturbating were immorality, no desire or interest, preference for partner, fear of negative social evaluation and sex negativity. Common emotional responses included satisfaction, guilt, anger, anxiety and indifference.
Students gave various reasons for having positive, negative or neutral attitudes about masturbation.
"It's perfectly natural for everyone to do it," Kent Szalauderbach, Wichita sophomore, said. "It relieves stress, and it's kind of a way of escape into a little pleasure you may not be getting elsewhere in your life."
Grace D'Amore, Antioch, Calif., sophomore, said masturbation was sometimes necessary.
"I think everyone needs to do it," D'Amore said. "It gets you to know yourself better. And if it's hard times and you're not getting laid, it's the only way to get by it."
Michaela Bowman, Duluth, Minn., sophomore, said she was neutral toward masturbation, but "if it's excessive, it's gross."
Young said the research showed that 97 percent of men and 63 percent of women masturbate.
Young said women who don't
masturbate at all had the most negative attitudes of all participants in the study, and women in general felt more anxious about masturbation than men.
Photo illustration by Ryan McGeeney KANSAN
Natalie Stroupe, Frankfort, Ky., graduate student, wrote her thesis about women's sexual issues, including masturbation. She has also been involved with Muehlenhard's research.
Statistics show the difference between the attitudes of men and women toward masturbation, Stroupe said. In the study, 59 percent of men said they masturbated once a week to once a day, and 29 percent of women said they masturbated once every few months to every few weeks. Twenty-nine percent of women said they never masturbated.
Chad Guempel, St. Louis freshman, said men and women varied in their perceptions of masturbation because it is not as commonly accepted for women. Still, he said, the subject is "getting less taboo" as "pop culture gets more and more risqué."
Dylan Kingsley, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, said she thought women's sexuality was more stigmatized by society.
"It taboo for women because of how society views the vagina, how women are socially constructed to view it as a bad thing," Kingsley said.
Although some people view masturbation negatively, many experts agree masturbation could be beneficial. Stroupe said masturbation could be "beneficial for sexual, mental and even general health."
"The claim that masturbation is harmful is not backed by scientific evidence." Stroupe said. "It seems that the only potential ill effects of masturbation come from negative emotions associated with engaging in it, such as guilt, shame and spiritual conflict resulting from the persistent cultural sigma that surrounds this behavior."
Muehlenhard and her students have nearly completed the first of their studies about masturbation. She said she and Young would soon submit the analysis to a journal, such as the Journal of Sex Research, for peer review and possible publication.
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