MASTURBATORY GUILT AND SEXUAL RESPONSIVENESS AMONG POST-COLLEGE-AGE WOMEN - SEXUAL SATISFACTION REVISITED

Although masturbation has come to be viewed as an appropriate sexual o utlet for women, it is the one form of sexual behavior that has been m ost harshly treated throughout the centuries by society, religion, and the field of medicine. Thus, despite the increased incidence of mastu rbation among adult women during the 1970s and 1980s, substantial evid ence suggests that guilt feelings associated with the practice may int erfere with physiological and psychological sexual satisfaction in gen eral. The purposes of this study were to determine the degree of mastu rbatory guilt, if any, and its effects on the sexual responsiveness an d sexual satisfaction of adult women. An anonymous questionnaire conce rning self-perception of the female sexual response was administered t o female, registered nurses in 15 states, yielding a sample of 868 res pondents. The 671 respondents who were the focus of this investigation had engaged in masturbation and revealed their guilt status regarding the practice. Those women who reported guilt feelings associated with masturbation were more likely to have negative feelings toward the pr actice and less likely to indicate positive physiological and psycholo gical reactions after engaging in self-stimulation. Further, they were less likely to report sexual adjustment, physiological sexual satisfa ction, and psychological sexual satisfaction. Since masturbation has e merged as a potential sexual outlet and as a means to engage in person al body exploration for women, these findings have substantial implica tions for therapists, physicians, sexuality professionals, and researc hers.