The study by University of Chicago sociologists analyzed data from 3,116 Americans aged 18 to 60 (1,769 women and 1,347 men) gathered during face-to-face interviews as part of the National Health and Social Life Survey. The interviewers asked, "On average, over the past 12 months, how often did you masturbate?" It's possible that the face-to-face format suppressed response. Some people might not have admitted masturbating to an interviewer. But even allowing for this possibility, it seems clear that masturbation is by no means as prevalent as the old joke suggests--or as many people believe.Previous studies have shown that men are most likely to masturbate from their teens into middle age. That was partly true in this study. Men's masturbation rate fell somewhat after age 50. But on the whole, men who masturbate continue to do so into later life.However, it apparently takes young women some time to warm up to masturbation. In this study, women aged 20 to 39 were the most likely to masturbate, with lower rates among women 18 to 20 and those over 40.Previous research has shown that masturbation becomes more likely with increased education, greater frequency of sexual thoughts, sexual experimentation before puberty, and larger number of lifetime sexual relationships. This study agreed for both sexes.Previous studies have suggested that poor health reduces masturbation. In this study, that was true for women, but not for men. Men who masturbate keep doing it regardless of their health.
