Multiple Orgasm in the Human Male

<< Masturbation and Age >>

About 92 per cent of the total population of all the males is involved in masturbation which leads to orgasm (Table 132, Figure 134).

About 62 per cent of all the females in the sample had masturbated at some time in the course of their lives (Table 21f, Figure 9f). About 58 per cent had masturbated at some time to the point of orgasm (Table 25f, Figure 9f). The 4 to 6 per cent which had masturbated without reaching orgasm was chiefly a group of females who had made only single or desultory and infrequent trials of their capacities, for nearly all of those who had seriously experimented soon learned to reach orgasm.
American data are also in: Davis 1929:98, 153 (65 per cent of single females; 52 per cent of all women; based, however, on an erroneous assumption that none began masturbation after marriage). Hamilton 1929:427 ( 74 per cent). Dickinson and Beam 1931:172 (49 per cent); 349 (41 per cent). Dickinson and Beam 1934:460 (76 per cent). Strakosch 1934:37 (66 per cent). Landis et al. 1940:59 (54 per cent). Dearborn 1952:51 (75-80 per cent). These American figures are very close to our own. The wide variation in accumulative incidence figures given by European authors depends for the most part on the fact that they are estimates, or data based on the select samples which go to clinics.

The incidences for those females who had masturbated to the point of orgasm were 4 per cent by seven years of age, 12 per cent by twelve (which is the average age at which adolescence begins), and 15 per cent by age thirteen ( which is the average age at which menstruation first occurs) (Table 25f, Figure 9f). The incidence curves for both experience and orgasm then rose more or less continuously from adolescence until age 35. The curves still continued to rise but more slowly after that, and there were still some females who began to masturbate for the first time after age forty. The steady development of the curves had not been affected by the ages at which the females had married.
Previous studies on masturbation show ages for beginning which are close to our own. See: Hamilton 1929:427 (15 per cent before adolescence). Davis 1929:106, 115 (12 per cent with orgasm by fourteen years of age). Ackerson 1931:224 (14 per cent by age 12). Harvey 1932a:98 (15 per cent by age 12 as the median of previous studies). Landis and Bolles 1942:21 (20 per cent by adolescence).

Tables 132, 21f, 25f. Accumulative incidence data on masturbation to orgasm

Age	Masturbation to orgasm: Accumulative Incidence Data
	Total Population U. S. Corrections						Educ. Level 0-8				Educ. Level 9-12				Educ. Level 13+		Educ. Level 13-16		Educ. Level 17+
	Males		Females				Males		Females		Males		Females		Males		Females		Females
	Cases	% with Exper.	Experience in Masturbation		Masturbation to Orgasm		Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.
	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.	Cases	% with Exper.
3			5913	1	5913	0			179	0			1011	0			3290	0	1146	0
5			5866	4	5866	2			179	0			1011	2			3290	1	1146	3
7			5841	7	5838	4			179	1			1011	4			3290	3	1146	5
8	3960	0.1					661	0.0			484	0.2			2815	0.0
9	3960	0.3					661	0.0			484	0.6			2815	0.3
10	3960	2.0	5808	13	5802	8	661	0.8	179	5	484	2.5	1011	8	2815	2.3	3290	7	1146	11
11	3959	6.1					660	3.2			484	7.0			2815	8.9
12	3959	21.2	5784	19	5778	12	660	15.5	179	8	484	22.7	1011	13	2815	27.9	3290	11	1146	16
13	3959	44.9					660	34.4			484	48.6			2815	52.9
14	3956	71.7					657	60.3			484	77.9			2815	72.2
15	3950	82.2	5721	28	5715	20	651	77.3	173	22	484	85.5	1010	23	2815	80.2	3290	18	1146	24
16	3929	87.6					634	84.5			481	90.2			2814	84.3
17	3870	90.2					597	86.6			461	93.1			2812	87.0
18	3735	91.8					573	89.4			426	93.9			2736	88.9
19	3504	92.1					543	89.5			389	94.1			2572	90.0
20	3200	92.1	4344	41	4342	33	515	89.7	127	31	348	93.7	859	33	2337	91.1	2211	32	1145	36
21	2827	92.6					491	89.6			305	94.4			2031	92.0
22	2425	92.7					472	89.6			283	94.3			1670	92.8
23	2110	93.5					456	89.7			258	95.7			1396	93.3
24	1819	93.8					436	89.9			232	96.1			1151	93.1
25	1634	93.4	2793	51	2793	44	416	89.7	117	32	216	96.3	686	40	1002	93.9	1042	45	948	46
26	1491	93.3					405	89.4			202	96.0			884	94.9
27	1356	93.1					391	89.0			191	95.8			774	95.3
28	1250	92.8					377	88.6			174	95.4			699	95.3
29	1141	92.3					353	88.1			154	94.8			634	95.0
30	1047	91.5	2050	56	2050	50	337	87.8	109	34	137	94.2	501	48	573	95.6	709	50	731	55
31	971	90.9					317	87.1			125	93.6			529	95.3
32	913	91.2					305	87.2			116	94.0			492	95.5
33	854	90.8					293	86.7			113	93.8			448	95.3
34	802	90.9					285	86.3			105	94.3			412	95.9
35	745	90.2	1473	61	1473	56	271	86.3	91	34	92	94.6	322	55	382	95.8	495	56	565	59
36	701	90.6					258	87.2			87	94.3			356	95.8
37	639	90.0					240	86.7			76	93.4			323	95.7
38	609	89.6					232	86.2			70	92.9			307	95.8
39	554	89.1					210	85.7			64	92.2			280	95.4
40	507	88.3	951	62	951	58	192	85.4	67	28	58	91.4	193	59	257	96.1	305	57	386	63
41	472	87.5					181	84.5			53	90.6			238	95.8
42	444	87.3					173	84.4			50	90.0			221	95.5
“Educ. level 0-8” are those who had never gone beyond grade school. “9-12” are those who had gone into high school, but never beyond. “13+” are those who will ultimately go to college. “13-16” are those who had gone into college, but had not had more than four years of college. “17+” are those who had gone beyond college into post-graduate or professional training.
Covering the life span, including both single and married histories. In three educational levels, and in the total population corrected for the U. S. Census of 1940.

Figures 134, 135, 9f, 13f. Masturbation: accumulative incidence among
males and females, in total U. S. population and in three-four educational levels

Showing percent of total population that has ever had masturbatory experience
by each of the indicated ages.
All data based on total population, irrespective of marital status,
and corrected for the U. S. Census distribution.
Masturbatory experience may include orgasm or may not.

Masturbation is primarily a phenomenon of younger and unmarried groups, although it does occur in a fair number of the married histories. Later analyses will show that the incidence and frequency of masturbation are particularly affected by social backgrounds and correlated with educational levels and occupational status (Chapter 10).

Table 51. Masturbation and age

Age Group	Cases	Masturbation: Sample Population							Masturbation: U. S. Population
		Total population			Active Population				Total population		Active Population
		Mean Frequency	Me- dian Freq.	% of Total Outlet	Incid. %	Mean Frequency	Me- dian Freq.	% of Total Outlet	Mean Freq.	% of Total Outlet	Incid. %	Mean Freq.	% of Total Outlet
Single Males
Adol.-15	3012	2.02 ± 0.04	1.44	70.33	85.4	2.36 ± 0.04	1.79	77.94 ± 0.53	1.86	60.22	87.2	2.14	71.02
16-20	2868	1.46 ± 0.03	0.89	51.28	88.4	1.66 ± 0.03	1.09	60.23 ± 0.64	1.23	38.50	87.7	1.40	47.76
21-25	1535	1.10 ± 0.04	0.53	41.95	80.7	1.37 ± 0.04	0.80	54.40 ± 0.94	0.86	29.52	73.6	1.16	43.12
26-30	550	0.94 ± 0.06	0.38	36.40	77.1	1.22 ± 0.07	0.66	47.34 ± 1.63	0.75	26.94	73.9	1.02	39.12
31-35	195	0.73 ± 0.09	0.25	31.29	71.3	1.02 ± 0.12	0.49	40.43 ± 2.81	0.59	24.94	67.6	0.88	34.03
36-40	97	0.76 ± 0.15	0.20	37.32	62.9	1.20 ± 0.21	0.63	47.06 ± 4.28	0.58	29.09	57.7	1.01	41.30
41-45	56	0.61 ±0.19	0.08	35.19	60.7	1.01 ± 0.29	0.37	43.66 ± 6.31	....	....	....	....	....
46-50	39	0.62 ± 0.25	0.07	33.13	53.8	1.15 ± 0.45	0.50	37.88 ± 7.05	....	....	....	....	....
Married Males
16-20	272	0.17 ± 0.03	0.00	3.63	39.0	0.43 ± 0.08	0.11	9.91 ± 1.53	0.14	2.95	37.1	0.38	8.29
21-25	751	0.21 ± 0.02	0.00	5.52	47.8	0.45 ± 0.04	0.17	12.15 ± 0.97	0.17	4.40	42.1	0.42	9.40
26-30	737	0.20 ± 0.02	0.00	6.19	47.9	0.42 ± 0.04	0.14	12.50 ± 0.97	0.16	4.57	36.5	0.43	11.34
31-35	569	0.16 ± 0.02	0.00	6.03	45.5	0.36 ± 0.04	0.10	12.44 ± 1.15	0.11	3.79	32.8	0.34	10.25
36-40	390	0.13 ± 0.02	0.00	5.22	36.7	0.35 ± 0.05	0.10	12.41 ± 1.66	0.07	2.95	22.2	0.33	13.17
41-45	272	0.11 ± 0.02	0.00	5.64	32.7	0.34 ± 0.06	0.10	12.66 ± 2.14	0.05	2.43	15.0	0.32	11.80
46-50	175	0.09 ± 0.02	0.00	5.11	30.9	0.30 ± 0.06	0.10	14.94 ± 2.92	0.05	2.53	13.6	0.33	16.29
51-55	109	0.10 ± 0.03	0.00	6.35	25.7	0.38 ± 0.11	0.10	18.18 ± 4.18	0.03	2.13	11.4	0.34	12.09
56-60	67	0.04 ± 0.02	0.00	4.06	19.4	0.22 ± 0.10	0.09	20.86 ± 7.86	....	....	....	....	....
In this, and in the succeeding charts in this and the following chapter, means and medians represent average frequencies per week. “% of Total Outlet” in the total population shows what portion of the total number of orgasms is derived from masturbation in the total population. A total of such figures for all the possible sources of outlet equals 100%, which is the total outlet of the group. “% of Total Outlet” for the active population represents the mean of the figures showing the percentage of the total outlet which is derived from this source by each individual who has any masturbation in his history, in that particular age period. The percents for the several possible outlets do not total 100% because different individuals are involved in the populations utilizing each type of outlet.
U. S. population figures are corrections of the raw data for a population whose age, marital status, and educational level are the same as those shown in the U. S. Census for 1940.

The highest incidence for masturbation among single males (in the population taken as a whole) lies between 16 and 20 years of age, when 88 per cent is involved (Tables 51, 61, Figures 53-58). If the population is broken down into three groups on the basis of the amount of schooling they receive before they finally leave school (Table 82), it becomes apparent that the highest frequencies of masturbation really occur in the period between adolescence and age 15. The incidence steadily drops from that point. About half of the single population (53.8%) is still masturbating at 50 years of age. Among married males, the highest incidence (42.1%) occurs between 21 and 25 years of age, and the figures for these males similarly drop steadily into old age. In the middle fifties, hardly more than a tenth of the married males (11.4%) is involved. Masturbation is the first major source of outlet to disappear from the histories. A stray male is still involved at 75 years of age, but there is no complete masturbation to orgasm in any of the older histories.

The active incidences of masturbation were lowest in the younger groups, and highest in the older groups of females. In the younger groups, as few as 20 per cent of the females were masturbating, while as many as 58 per cent of some of the older groups were having experience within a single five-year period. This increase in the incidence of masturbation among the older females sharply contrasts with the record for the single males where the active incidences reach their peak (88 per cent) in the mid-teens, and drop steadily from there into old age (Table 51).
Published figures which appear to be active incidence figures, whether with or without orgasm, are in: Achilles 1923:50. Schbankov acc. Weissenberg 1924a: 13. Hellmann. acc. Weissenberg 1924b:211. Golossowker acc. Weissenberg 1925:175. Gurewitsch and Grosser 1929:525. Davis 1929:102-103. Hamilton 1929:425. Strakosch 1934:35-39. Landis and Bolles 1942:21. The higher incidence of masturbation among older females, whether single or married, is also noted in: Krafft-Ebing (Moll ed.) 1924:566. Hamilton 1929:439 (56 per cent for older married females). Davis 1929:100 (20 per cent at ages 22-27 rising to 39 per cent by ages 37-42, single females, active incidence at age of reporting). Hutton 1937:77.

There may have been several explanations of these higher incidences of masturbation among the older females:
(1) There may have been an actual increase in erotic responsiveness at the older ages.
(2) The availability of socio-sexual outlets had been reduced at older ages, and this may have forced an increasing number of females to masturbate.
(3) There was often a reduction of inhibitions among the older females.
(4) The older females, having had more experience in petting and coitus, had learned, thereby, that similar satisfactions are obtainable through self-masturbation.

The active incidences of masturbation to orgasm among the single females (ranging from 20 to 54 per cent) were somewhat higher than they were (23 to 36 per cent) among the corresponding married groups (Table 23f). Many of those who had depended on this outlet before marriage had stopped masturbating when marital coitus became available. On the other hand, there were some females who had not begun masturbating until after they had learned from their pre-coital petting experience in marriage that self-stimulation could also bring sexual satisfaction. Some women who fail to reach orgasm in coitus are then stimulated manually by their husbands, or they masturbate themselves until they reach orgasm. Some of the married females, on the other hand, confine their masturbation to periods when their husbands are away from home.

Tables 61, 23f. Masturbation in relation to marital status and age

Masturbation, Marital Status, and Age
Age Group	Total Sample Population
	Cases						Mean Frequency per wk.						% of Total Outlet
	Males			Females			Males			Females			Males			Females
	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital
Adol.-15	3012			5677			2.02			0.3 ± 0.02			70.33			85
16-20	2868	272	46	5613	578	72	1.46	0.17	0.36	0.3 ± 0.01	0.2 ± 0.04	0.3 ± 0.08	51.28	3.63	9.01	60	9	13
21-25	1535	751	119	2810	1654	239	1.10	0.21	0.28	0.3 ± 0.02	0.2 ± 0.02	0.4 ± 0.08	41.95	5.52	7.61	46	6	24
26-30	550	737	182	1064	1662	328	0.94	0.20	0.25	0.4 ± 0.04	0.2 ± 0.02	0.4 ± 0.06	36.40	6.19	8.72	41	7	22
31-35	195	569	158	539	1246	304	0.73	0.16	0.16	0.4 ± 0.06	0.2 ± 0.02	0.3 ± 0.06	31.29	6.03	8.35	42	8	20
36-40	97	390	128	315	851	245	0.76	0.13	0.17	0.5 ± 0.09	0.2 ± 0.04	0.4 ± 0.05	37.32	5.22	9.71	37	10	23
41-45	56	272	96	179	497	195	0.61	0.11	0.20	0.5 ± 0.13	0.2 ± 0.03	0.4 ± 0.07	35.19	5.64	13.28	45	11	26
46-50	39	175	63	109	260	126	0.62	0.09	0.23	0.4 ± 0.14	0.2 ± 0.03	0.3 ± 0.05	33.13	5.11	18.39	52	11	28
51-55		109	42	58	118	82		0.10	0.14	0.4 ± 0.24	0.1 ± 0.04	0.2 ± 0.04		6.35	11.49	70	13	26
56-60		67		27	49	53		0.04		0.3 ± 0.22	0.1 ± 0.03	0.2 ± 0.05		4.06		78	13	44
Age Group	Active Cases in Sample Population
	Active Incidence %						Mean Frequency per wk.						Median freq. per wk.			% of Total Outlet
	Males			Females			Males			Females			Females			Males
	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar- ital	Single	Mar- ried	Post- mar ital
Adol.-15	85.4			20			2.36			1.4 ± 0.08			0.5			77.94
16-20	88.4	39.0	56.5	28	23	35	1.66	0.43	0.64	1.0 ± 0.05	1.1 ± 0.15	0.8 ± 0.21	0.4	0.4	0.3	60.23	9.91	17.13
21-25	80.7	47.8	44.5	35	27	41	1.37	0.45	0.62	0.9 ± 0.05	0.6 ± 0.08	1.0 ± 0.17	0.4	0.2	0.4	54.40	12.15	26.25
26-30	77.1	47.9	44.0	43	31	46	1.22	0.42	0.58	0.9 ± 0.09	0.6 ± 0.07	0.8 ± 0.12	0.3	0.2	0.3	47.34	12.50	24.00
31-35	71.3	45.5	38.6	49	34	49	1.02	0.36	0.42	0.9 ± 0.11	0.5 ± 0.04	0.6 ± 0.11	0.4	0.2	0.3	40.43	12.44	28.25
36-40	62.9	36.7	42.2	54	36	57	1.20	0.35	0.39	0.9 ± 0.16	0.6 ± 0.10	0.7 ± 0.08	0.3	0.2	0.3	47.06	12.41	30.59
41-45	60.7	32.7	33.3	50	36	58	1.01	0.34	0.59	1.0 ± 0.26	0.6 ± 0.09	0.7 ± 0.11	0.3	0.2	0.3	43.66	12.66	32.06
46-50	53.8	30.9	44.4	47	34	56	1.15	0.30	0.52	1.0 ± 0.29	0.5 ± 0.07	0.5 ± 0.09	0.3	0.2	0.3	37.88	14.94	36.57
51-55		25.7	33.3	40	31	50		0.38	0.41	0.3 ± 0.59	0.4 ± 0.11	0.4 ± 0.08	0.2	0.2	0.3		18.18	29.43
56-60		19.4		30	35	42		0.22			0.2 ± 0.08	0.4 ± 0.10		0.1	0.2		20.86
Age Group	Corrected for U. S. Population
	Males
					Incidence %		Mean Frequency per wk.						% of Total Outlet
					Active Population		Total Population		Active Population				Total Population		Active Population
					Sin- gle	Mar- ried	Sin- gle	Mar- ried	Sin- gle	Mar- ried			Sin- gle	Mar- ried	Sin- gle	Mar- ried
Adol.-15					87.2		1.86		2.14				60.22		71.02
16-20					87.7	37.1	1.23	0.14	1.40	0.38			38.50	2.95	47.76	8.29
21-25					73.6	42.1	0.86	0.17	1.16	0.42			29.52	4.40	43.12	9.40
26-30					73.9	36.5	0.75	0.16	1.02	0.43			26.94	4.57	39.12	11.34
31-35					67.6	32.8	0.59	0.11	0.88	0.34			24.94	3.79	34.03	10.25
36-40					57.7	22.2	0.58	0.07	1.01	0.33			29.09	2.95	41.30	13.17
41-45						15.0		0.05		0.32				2.43		11.80
46-50						13.6		0.05		0.33				2.53		16.29
51-55						11.4		0.03		0.34				2.13		12.09
Data for the U. S. population are based on the sample population which is corrected for the distribution of educational levels shown in the U. S. Census for 1940. For sigmas of means, median frequencies, etc., see the Table 51.

Figures 53-58. Relation of age and marital status to masturbation

Individuals differ tremendously in the frequencies with which they masturbate. There are boys who never masturbate. There are boys who masturbate twice or thrice in a lifetime; and there are boys and older youths who masturbate two and three times a day, averaging 20 or more per week throughout periods of some years. The population is most variable (the range of masturbatory frequencies is greatest, the differences between the least active and most active males are greatest) in the 11-15-year old group (Table 49). From this point on, the population becomes more homogeneous (there is a steady decline in range of frequencies) with advancing age. The highest rating individual at 15 years of age has a masturbatory rate which is two and a half times that of the highest rating individual at 30 years of age, and four times the rate of the highest individual at 50 years of age.

For the single population, the maximum average frequencies of masturbation are in the very youngest group (Tables 51, 61, Figures 53-58). In this group the boy who is masturbating at all ejaculates more than twice a week from this source (a mean of 2.1 and a median of 1.8 for the active population). By the middle teens the frequencies have dropped to approximately two-thirds of the figures in the younger group, and they continue to drop steadily into old age. By 50 years of age, there is about half as much masturbation among single males as in the younger adolescent boys. The decline in frequencies is dependent upon the fact that masturbation is, to a certain extent, a substitute for heterosexual or homosexual intercourse which replaces it in older groups; but it is to be emphasized that throughout the lives of many males, including married males especially of upper social levels, masturbation remains as an occasional source of outlet that is deliberately chosen for variety and for the particular sort of pleasure involved. Among the married males who do masturbate the frequencies are usually not high, averaging about once in three weeks for the active population as a whole. The frequencies are much higher for married males of upper educational levels. For the total married population, the mean frequencies are highest in the youngest age groups, dropping steadily into old age; but in the active portion of the married population, the frequencies hardly vary between 16 and 55 years of age. Here the effect of age is not in the direction of reducing rates among individuals who do masturbate, but by way of reducing the number of males who are involved.

In the youngest adolescent group, considering the population as a whole, the average boy is drawing nearly two-thirds (60.2%) of his total sexual outlet from masturbation. The figures drop steadily into old age. By 50, the average unmarried male who has any masturbation in his history derives only about a third (37.9%) of his outlet from that source. Among the married males who draw at all on this outlet, about 8 per cent of the total number of ejaculations comes from masturbation between 16 and 20 years of age; and, interesting to note, the figure rises in the later married years until it reaches 16 per cent at 50 years of age.

The average (active median and active mean) frequencies of masturbation were remarkably uniform among most of the groups of single females, from age twenty to the oldest age group in the sample (Table 23f). The average frequencies among the married females and the previously married females were similarly uniform in most of the age groups in the sample. The frequencies of the married females were only a bit lower than the frequencies among the single females and among those who had been previously married.

Among the single females who were actually masturbating (the active sample), the average (median) individual was reaching orgasm about once in every two and a half to three weeks ( between 0.3 and 0.4 per week) (Table 23f). Among the married females the frequencies averaged about once in a month (0.2 per week). Between the ages of sixteen and fifty among the single females, and between the ages of twenty-one and fifty-five among the married and previously married females, there had been only slight changes in the active median frequencies of masturbation. We shall find that this is more or less true of the frequencies of several other types of female activity and of the total sexual outlet of single females. This is one of the most remarkable aspects of female sexuality, and one which most sharply distinguishes it from the sexuality of the male. Hormonal factors may be involved.
For other data on the frequency of masturbation, see: Davis 1929:122-123 (failed to categorize her data). Hamilton 1929:435-436 (for married females, a median frequency of less than once per month). Landis et al. 1940:288 ( median frequency of 1 to 2 times a month, in 122 females).

Since the frequencies of masturbation depend primarily on the physiologic state and the volition of the female, they may provide a significant measure of the level of her interest in sexual activity. Heterosexual activities, on the other hand, are more often initiated by the male partner and, in consequence, they do not provide as good a measure of the female’s innate capacities and sexual interests.
Davis 1929:211-212 agrees that masturbation is a good index of strong sex desire in a single female.

In some of the histories, there was a record of the female’s masturbation being confined to the period just before the onset of her monthly menstruation. This is the period during which most human females are most responsive erotically.

Table 24f. Maximum Frequency of Masturbation
Females, Ever, in Any Single Week

Maximum Frequency, any wk.	Total Active Sample		Educational Level %
Maximum Frequency, any wk.	%	Cml. %	0-8	9-12	13-16	17 +
1	35	100	33	42	35	30
2	14	65	27	16	13	15
3	17	51	12	16	18	15
4	9	35	4	7	9	10
5	6	26	10	4	6	6
6	3	20		2	3	4
7	9	17	8	6	9	10
8	1	8		1	1	1
9	—	7			—	—
10	3	7		2	2	4
11	—	4			—
12	—	4		1	—	1
13
14	1	4	2	1	1	2
15	—	2		—	—	1
16	—	2		—	—
17
18	—	2			—
19
20	1	2	2		1	1
21	__	1			—
22	—	1			—
23
24		1		—
25
26
27
28	—	1			—	—
29 +	1	1	2	1	1	—
Number of cases		2217	51	373	1131	623
“Educ. level 0-8” are those who had never gone beyond grade school. “9-12” are those who had gone into high school, but never beyond. “13-16” are those who had gone into college, but had not had more than four years of college. “17+” are those who had gone beyond college into post-graduate or professional training.

Among those females who had masturbated, some had not had such experience more than once or twice in a year. Most of them, however, had masturbated to the point of orgasm with frequencies which ranged from once in a month to once in a week. There were, however, about 4 per cent (Table 24, Figure 12) who had masturbated with frequencies of 14 or more per week at some period in their lives, and a few who had experienced orgasm from this source as often as 30 or more times per week. In the sample there were females who had regularly masturbated to the point of orgasm several times in immediate succession, and there were some who had masturbated to orgasm as often as 10, 20, and even 100 times within a single hour. This is an example of the individual variation which may occur in any type of sexual activity. While considerable individual variation also occurs among males (Table 49), the range of variation in almost every type of sexual activity seems to be far greater among females.

Because there were some individuals who masturbated with very high rates, the mean frequencies of masturbation were two to three times as high as the corresponding median frequencies (Table 23f).

In terms of the total number of orgasms which it had provided, masturbation was much the most important source of sexual outlet for the unmarried females in the sample. In the various age groups it had accounted for something between 37 and 85 per cent of the total pre-marital outlet (Table 23f).

In contrast to the single females, the married females had derived, in most cases, something around 10 per cent of their total outlet from masturbation (Table 23f). It had provided a somewhat lower percentage of the total outlet for the younger married females, and a somewhat higher percentage for the older females.

Among those females who had been previously married but who were no longer living with their husbands, the percentage of the total outlet which was derived from masturbation rose in the sample, from 13 per cent in the younger age groups to 44 per cent in the older groups (Table 23f).

Age is, obviously, a factor which affects masturbation in most of its aspects. Its influences are to be noted in the steady reductions in the numbers of persons involved (the incidences); in similar reductions in the frequencies (rates per week) with which masturbation occurs, both in the single and in the married portions of the population; in the reduction in the range of frequency. The percentage of the total outlet which is supplied by masturbation is reduced in the total population, both single and married; but among those who continue to draw on this source, masturbation remains a fairly constant portion of the outlet during the single years, even if they extend into old age. For the married males who masturbate it is an increasingly important source of orgasm with the advancing years.

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