Examining the role of women’s self-pleasure in relationships: Individual and dyadic analyses

Abstract

Masturbation is a sexual activity resulting in sexual pleasure and a therapeutic tool for women’s orgasm difficulties. However, stigma around women’s masturbation persists, especially for partnered women. Although research attention on women’s masturbation has increased in recent years, it is understudied within a relationship context due to the traditional sexual norms prioritising partnered penetration in relationships. The current thesis examined partner and relationship influences on women’s understanding, meanings, perceptions, and behaviours related to women’s self-pleasure (solitary and/or mutual; with or without vibrators), and how recency of solo and mutual masturbation might be associated with their sexual satisfaction and sexual self-esteem. First, in a systematic review of the qualitative literature on women’s masturbation (Paper 1), I reviewed and synthesised findings from 11 articles. Second (Paper 2), I conducted an online survey of 105 mixed-sex couples (M_age = 27.62 years) and explored the following questions using dyadic analysis: how (dis)similar are partners in their attitudes and beliefs about women’s self-pleasure, and is solo masturbation associated with sexual satisfaction and sexual self-esteem among women and their partners? Third (Paper 3), using individual-level data from the online survey (N = 117 women and 151 men, M_age = 29.7 years), I explored the recency of mutual masturbation, associated emotions, and associations with sexual satisfaction and sexual self-esteem when in relationships. Notably, findings from the systematic review demonstrated that little is known about: women’s masturbation in the relationship context, their partners’ actual feelings and attitudes about women’s masturbation, and their communication strategies for disclosing and sharing masturbation experiences. Partners reported similar and positive attitudes about women’s solo masturbation in Paper 2, and positive feelings about mutual masturbation in Paper 3. Among women and their partners in Paper 2 and women and men in relationships in Paper 3, solo masturbation recency had no association with sexual satisfaction. However, in Paper 3, a positive link between mutual masturbation recency and sexual satisfaction was found. Although the sexual script around masturbation expects that this is a behaviour that will happen alone and considers it to be more normal for single individuals than for those in relationships, the collective findings from this research challenge these two common misconceptions. The findings also suggest that feelings about and attitudes toward masturbation are more positive than previously believed. The results provide insight into how the association between masturbation and sexual satisfaction might differ depending on the context (solo vs. mutual). Sex and couple therapists can recommend mutual masturbation to enhance sexual satisfaction after exploring personal feelings and values about solo and partnered masturbation. Normalising solo and mutual masturbation, and including types of self-pleasure in the sexual scripts while in relationships, may help increase couples’ mutual pleasure.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Dilan Kilic Onar: orcid.org/0000-0002-0264-8906

ORCID for Cynthia Graham: orcid.org/0000-0002-7884-599X

ORCID for Heather Armstrong: orcid.org/0000-0002-1071-8644

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