There are certain implicit social norms on what topics should and should not be discussed publicly, such as sexual behavior, politics and religion. Earlier today, a UTRGV psychology associate professor shared the findings of several studies on masturbation.
Russell Eisenman said that in a U.S. study, over 3,000 subjects ages 18 to 60 were asked to share certain aspects of their sexual activities. It was found that 38 percent of women and 61 of men had masturbated in the past year.
Eisenman said masturbation is common because of its effects.
“You stimulate the parts of yourself in the way you would like it,” he said. “In intercourse, this may not happen. You may get some stimulation in a certain area, but not the same stimulation as in masturbation.”
It was also revealed that even though men have more permissive attitudes toward sex than women, today’s generation believes that there is nothing wrong with masturbating.
Eisenman said 2.32 percent of men in a study agreed that masturbation is wrong and only 2.88 percent of women agreed that masturbation is wrong.
Throughout the presentation, the professor explained several common misconceptions. One of them is that people with partners don’t participate in masturbation.
“It’s not that they don’t have a partner,” he said. “One study showed that people usually masturbate when they don’t have emotional closeness to their partners.”
While there is not an age trend with males, it was found that women 20 to 39 masturbate more than other age groups. The presenter also said white/Caucasian people participate in self sexual indulgence more than African Americans and Pacific Islanders.
After answering several questions from the audience, Eisenman ended the presentation by stating that even though masturbation is common, there are still individuals who choose not to participate in it because of religious and personal reasons. These individuals can overcome those impulses by channeling emotions. Reading, exercising and other activities can help accomplish this result.
