Masturbation among women: associated factors and sexual response in a Portuguese community sample

Sexual Activity and Sexual Satisfaction Among Older Adults in Four European Countries

The aim of this article was to describe partnered and non-partnered sexual activity and sexual satisfaction in older men and women from Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal, and to explore sociodemographic correlates of sexual activity and satisfaction. Data were collected in 2016 using postal, anonymous questionnaires in probability samples of the population aged 60-75 years recruited by phone registers in Norway (676 men, 594 women), Denmark (530 men, 515 women), Belgium (318 men, 672 women), and Portugal (236 men, 273 women). In men, the percentage of sexually active participants in the past year ranged from 83% in Portugal to 91% in Norway. In women, the percentage of sexually active participants during the last year ranged from 61% in Belgium to 78% in Denmark. Regarding frequency of sexual intercourse activity during the past month, men in Norway, Denmark, and Belgium (23-24%) most often reported 2-3 times per month, whereas most men in Portugal (29%) reported 1-3 times per week. Masturbation was most commonly reported among Norwegian men (65%) and women (40%), and least commonly in Portugal. Concerning sexual satisfaction, across all countries, 40-60% of participants reported that they were sexually satisfied. Portuguese men and Danish women reported being most sexually satisfied. Having a partner was the most important positive predictor of sexual activity and sexual satisfaction in all subgroups except Portuguese men. In conclusion, partnered sexual activity was more frequent in the south of Europe, and solitary sexual activity more frequent in Northern Europe.

Body Movement Is Associated With Orgasm During Vaginal Intercourse in Women

Very few studies have investigated the relationship between women's ability to experience an orgasm during vaginal intercourse and specific stimulation techniques. We examined two common techniques during vaginal intercourse both with and without simultaneous external clitoral stimulation: (1) body movement, in particular back-and-forth swinging movements of the pelvis and trunk; and (2) precise rubbing of the clitoris with an immobilized body. Structural equation modeling was used to compare the effects of the two stimulation techniques on women's orgasm frequency (N = 1,239). As hypothesized, the frequency of orgasm during vaginal intercourse with simultaneous clitoral stimulation was positively associated with a preference for body movement during arousal. Body movement, as opposed to body immobilization, was also associated with a higher frequency of orgasm during vaginal intercourse without simultaneous clitoral stimulation. We conclude that body movement is associated with more orgasms during vaginal intercourse, whereas precise rubbing of the clitoris with an immobilized body is not associated with more orgasms. Teaching women to move their pelvis and trunk in a swinging back-and-forth movement during vaginal intercourse might therefore facilitate reaching an orgasm, whereas encouraging them to self-stimulate the clitoris might be less helpful if done with an immobilized body.

Una mirada a la masturbación femenina: estudio descriptivo transversal en mujeres universitarias del área metropolitana de Bucaramanga, Colombia

Introducción. La masturbación es un tema que encierra múltiples mensajes, tanto culturales negativos como sexológicos positivos. Esta diversidad es una ventana para explorar la sexualidad femenina.Objetivo. Establecer la prevalencia de masturbación en estudiantes universitarias del área metropolitana de Bucaramanga, Colombia.Materiales y métodos. Estudio descriptivo transversal con cuestionario de autorreporte. Se realizó análisis descriptivo e inferencial con nivel de significancia de p<0.05.Resultados. Se encuestaron 1 039 mujeres (edad mediana: 20, RIC: 4). La prevalencia de masturbación fue del 32.2%; de ellas, solo el 73.1% llegaba al orgasmo por esta estimulación. 1 de cada 3 mujeres que se no se masturba reportó incapacidad para alcanzar el orgasmo. La masturbación fue más frecuente en mujeres >35, de estratos socioeconómicos altos, no religiosas o católicas con poco o nulo nivel de religiosidad, que estudian, trabajan como independiente y se autoidentifican como bisexuales.Conclusiones. 1 de cada 3 mujeres que no refiere masturbarse reporta disfunción orgásmica; de esta forma, las actividades masturbatorias son un factor protector de la disfunción. Es importante realizar educación desde la autoexploración para que la mujer pueda conocerse y disfrutar plenamente de su sexualidad.

Validation of a Visual Analogue Scale to measure the subjective perception of orgasmic intensity in females: The Orgasmometer-F

The female orgasm represents one of the most complex functions in the field of human sexuality.

The conjunction of the anatomical, physiological, psycho-relational and socio-cultural components contributes to make the female orgasm still partly unclear. The female orgasmic experience, its correlates and the relation with sexual desire, arousal and lubrication as predictors are highly debated in scientific community. In this context, little is known about the impact of female sexual dysfunction (SD) on sexual pleasure expressed by subjective orgasmic intensity, and there are no suitable psychometric tools suited to investigate this dimension. Thus, we validate, in female subjects, a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) that we named Orgasmometer-F, to verify if SD is accompanied by a lower perceived orgasmic intensity. A total of 526 women, recruited through a web-based platform and from sexological outpatient clinic, were enrolled in the study. They were divided into, on the basis of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score in two groups: 1) 112women suffering from SD, (SD Group); and 2) 414 sexually healthy women (Control Group). The participants were requested to fill out the Orgasmometer-F, recording orgasmic intensity on a Likert scale from 0 (absence of orgasmic intensity) to 10 (maximum orgasmic intensity experienced). Women with SD experienced significantly lower orgasmic intensity than controls, as measured by the Orgasmometer-F (p < 0.0001). Interestingly, masturbatory frequency was positively correlated with orgasmic intensity, as were the lubrication, orgasm and sexual satisfaction domains of the FSFI. The Orgasmometer-F was well understood, had a good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.93) and a high AUC in differentiating between women with and without sexual dysfunction (AUC = 0.9; p < 0.0001). The ROC curve analysis showed that a cut-off <5 had 86.5% sensitivity (95% CI 82,8–89,6), 80.4% specificity (95% CI 71.8–87.3), 75.4% positive predictive value (PPV) and 89.5% negative predictive value (NPV). In conclusion, the Orgasmometer-F, a new psychometrically sound tool for measuring orgasmic intensity in female population, demonstrated that SD impair orgasmic intensity.

'There was a struggle between my instinct and my head': women's perception and experience of masturbation in contemporary Vietnam

This paper investigates how masturbation, as one form of non-coital sexual practice, is interpreted and experienced by young married women in contemporary Vietnam. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 professional women aged 25-40 living in Hanoi. Thematic analysis suggests that by embracing the pursuit of pleasure and aspiring to achieve this goal, many women stake a claim for modernity by promoting the idea that they are no longer traditional in this particular domain of social life. However, wider social forces associated with traditional Vietnamese gender ideology and sexual values remain firmly rooted, impacting on their everyday lives as working wives and mothers, and stalling their pursuit of pleasure and thus 'wellbeing' in its fullest sense. Indeed, among participants in this study, sex was interpreted as being almost exclusively organised around penile-vaginal intercourse. Even when sex was conceptualised as involving more than penetration, penile-vaginal intercourse was still viewed as its most essential component, without which a sexual transaction could not be seen as complete. The normality of penetrative sex was sometimes coupled with the stigma and discrimination associated with other non-coital sexual practices, positioning women firmly within conventional discourses of naturalness and health in regard to sex.

Women's Experience of Orgasm During Intercourse: Question Semantics Affect Women's Reports and Men's Estimates of Orgasm Occurrence

Most women report reliably experiencing orgasm from masturbation, but a smaller proportion of women report regularly experiencing orgasm from intercourse. Research suggests that concurrent clitoral stimulation during intercourse increases the likelihood of orgasm, yet most surveys of orgasm during intercourse leave unspecified whether vaginal intercourse does or does not include concurrent clitoral stimulation (assisted intercourse or unassisted intercourse, respectively). Using an online sample of 1569 men and 1478 women, we tested whether phrasing of questions about the occurrence of orgasm in intercourse modulates women's reported frequency and men's estimates of women's frequency of orgasm in intercourse. Participants provided estimates of orgasm when asked explicitly about intercourse with stimulation unspecified, assisted intercourse, and unassisted intercourse. Women's reports of orgasm occurrence were highest in response to assisted intercourse (51-60%), second highest in response to intercourse with clitoral stimulation unspecified (31-40%), and lowest in response to unassisted intercourse (21-30%). Men's estimates of women's orgasms were highest in response to assisted intercourse (61-70%), and lowest in response to unassisted intercourse (41-50%); in both conditions, men's estimates were significantly higher than women's reports. When clitoral stimulation was unspecified, women interpreted "orgasm in intercourse" in three ways: as from intercourse alone, as including concurrent clitoral stimulation though it was unspecified, or as an average of assisted and unassisted intercourse. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the phrasing of questions about women's orgasm produces markedly different orgasm estimates, and suggest that concurrent clitoral stimulation increases the likelihood of women experiencing orgasm in intercourse.

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 Partnered Sex: Substitutes or Complements?

Drawing upon a large, recent probability sample of American adults ages 18-60 (7648 men and 8090 women), we explored the association between sexual frequency and masturbation, evaluating the evidence for whether masturbation compensates for unavailable sex, complements (or augments) existing paired sexual activity, or bears little association with it. We found evidence supporting a compensatory relationship between masturbation and sexual frequency for men, and a complementary one among women, but each association was both modest and contingent on how content participants were with their self-reported frequency of sex. Among men and women, both partnered status and their sexual contentment were more obvious predictors of masturbation than was recent frequency of sex. We conclude that both hypotheses as commonly evaluated suffer from failing to account for the pivotal role of subjective sexual contentment in predicting masturbation.

Sexual Desire Inventory: Two or Three Dimensions?

The Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI), developed by Spector, Carey, and Steinberg in 1996, has been widely used to assess sexual desire in men and women throughout the world. This questionnaire categorizes sexual desire in two dimensions: dyadic sexual desire and solitary sexual desire. Our study addressed the factorial structure of the SDI, an aspect that until now has been largely neglected. We recruited two samples of Spanish men and women involved in stable heterosexual relationships. The first sample consisted of 3,417 subjects (1,600 males and 1,817 females), ages 18 to 84; the second sample consisted of 677 subjects (285 males and 392 females), ages 18 to 50. The results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed that instead of two dimensions the SDI should have three: (1) partner-focused dyadic sexual desire, (2) general dyadic sexual desire for an attractive person, and (3) solitary sexual desire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the robustness of this new three-factor structure. No gender differences were revealed, except for dyadic sexual desire for an attractive person, for which men reported higher scores. Good validity and reliability values were obtained. Moreover, standard scores for men and women by different age groups were developed.

Sexual Fantasy and Masturbation Among Asexual Individuals: An In-Depth Exploration

Human asexuality is generally defined as a lack of sexual attraction. We used online questionnaires to investigate reasons for masturbation, and explored and compared the contents of sexual fantasies of asexual individuals (identified using the Asexual Identification Scale) with those of sexual individuals. A total of 351 asexual participants (292 women, 59 men) and 388 sexual participants (221 women, 167 men) participated. Asexual women were significantly less likely to masturbate than sexual women, sexual men, and asexual men. Asexual women were less likely to report masturbating for sexual pleasure or fun than their sexual counterparts, and asexual men were less likely to report masturbating for sexual pleasure than sexual men. Both asexual women and men were significantly more likely than sexual women and men to report that they had never had a sexual fantasy. Of those who have had a sexual fantasy, asexual women and men were significantly more likely to endorse the response "my fantasies do not involve other people" compared to sexual participants, and consistently scored each sexual fantasy on a questionnaire as being less sexually exciting than did sexual participants. When using an open-ended format, asexual participants were more likely to report having fantasies about sexual activities that did not involve themselves, and were less likely to fantasize about topics such as group sex, public sex, and having an affair. Interestingly, there was a large amount of overlap between sexual fantasies of asexual and sexual participants. Notably, both asexual and sexual participants (both men and women) were equally likely to fantasize about topics such as fetishes and BDSM.

Psychological Factors Involved in Sexual Desire, Sexual Activity, and Sexual Satisfaction: A Multi-factorial Perspective

This study explored the role of psychological trait factors in sexual desire and sexual activity. In particular, it investigated how these factors may contribute to maintaining a balance between motivational aspects and self-control abilities, as both have been considered important in relation to adaptive sexuality. Moreover, the study explored the relationship between sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction. Participants completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual activity (with a partner, alone), sexual satisfaction, approach and avoidance motivation, attachment, self-control, sensation seeking, and mindfulness. Cluster analyses, based on participants' level of sexual desire and sexual activity, highlighted three distinct profiles for each gender related to different types of psychological functioning: (a) participants with high dyadic sexual desire and activity were the most sexually satisfied, showed optimal psychological functioning, and were characterized by a balance between motivational tendencies to seek positive rewards and self-control abilities (high approach motivation, secure attachment, high self-control, high mindfulness); (b) participants with high dyadic and solitary sexual desire and activity were moderately satisfied and showed a type of psychological functioning predominantly characterized by impulsivity (an overly high motivation to obtain rewards in women, and low self-control in men); (c) participants with low dyadic sexual desire and activity were the least sexually satisfied and were characterized by high motivation to avoid negative consequences and low self-control (high avoidance motivation, insecure attachment, and poor mindfulness). These results shed further light on how fundamental psychological factors contribute to explain the individual variability in sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction.

Defining Pleasure: A Focus Group Study of Solitary and Partnered Sexual Pleasure in Queer and Heterosexual Women

Solitary and partnered sexuality are typically depicted as fundamentally similar, but empirical evidence suggests they differ in important ways. We investigated how women's definitions of sexual pleasure overlapped and diverged when considering solitary versus partnered sexuality. Based on an interdisciplinary literature, we explored whether solitary pleasure would be characterized by eroticism (e.g., genital pleasure, orgasm) and partnered pleasure by nurturance (e.g., closeness). Via focus groups with a sexually diverse sample of women aged 18-64 (N = 73), we found that women defined solitary and partnered pleasure in both convergent and divergent ways that supported expectations. Autonomy was central to definitions of solitary pleasure, whereas trust, giving pleasure, and closeness were important elements of partnered pleasure. Both solitary and partnered pleasure involved exploration for self-discovery or for growing a partnered relationship. Definitions of pleasure were largely similar across age and sexual identity; however, relative to queer women, heterosexual women (especially younger heterosexual women) expressed greater ambivalence toward solitary masturbation and partnered orgasm. Results have implications for women's sexual well-being across multiple sexual identities and ages, and for understanding solitary and partnered sexuality as overlapping but distinct constructs.

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

This article examines individual variability in sexual desire and sexual satisfaction by exploring the relation between these sexual aspects and sexual attitudes (implicit and explicit) and by taking gender into account, as this has been shown to be an influential factor. A total of 28 men and 33 women living in heterosexual relationships completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual satisfaction, and explicit sexual attitudes. An adapted version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure was used to assess implicit sexual attitudes. Results showed higher levels of dyadic and solitary sexual desire in men than in women. No gender differences were found regarding sexual satisfaction or sexual attitudes. High dyadic sexual desire was associated with positive implicit and explicit sexual attitudes, regardless of gender. However, solitary sexual desire was significantly higher in men than women and was associated, in women only, with positive implicit sexual attitudes, suggesting that solitary sexual desire may fulfill different functions in men and women. Finally, sexual satisfaction depended on the combination of explicit and implicit sexual attitudes in both men and women. This study highlights the importance of considering both implicit and explicit sexual attitudes to better understand the mechanisms underlying individual variability in sexual desire and satisfaction.

Trajectories of intimate partnerships, sexual attitudes, desire and satisfaction

This research addresses the interrelations existing between trajectories of intimate partnerships and attitudes toward sexuality, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction. It is based on a dataset of 600 adults aged 25-46 living in Geneva (Switzerland) and uses innovative multivariate techniques for clustering life trajectories. The results emphasize the diversity of men's and women's trajectories of intimate partnerships. Trajectories with frequent and short-term partnerships are associated with recreational attitudes and higher solitary and dyadic sexual desire. In contrast, trajectories featuring few or no intimate partnerships are associated with traditional sexual attitudes and less sexual desire. Women's attitudes toward sexuality are more strongly associated with their intimate trajectories than men's. This suggests that men and women do not develop their sexuality in the same relation with intimacy. The results are referred to the gendered master status hypothesis.