<< Incidences >>

By even the stricter definition, masturbation may be identified in the histories of a very high proportion of the human males. Ultimately about 92 per cent of the total population is involved in masturbation which leads to orgasm (Table 132, Figure 134). More individuals (96%) of the college level and 95 per cent of the high school group, are ultimately included, fewer (89%) of the males who never go beyond grade school. The general opinion that all males masturbate at some time in their lives, and the easy acceptance of this opinion among many clinicians and educators, are not warranted by the actual record. There are some individuals who do not masturbate for the simple reason that they do not have sufficient sex drive to cause them to go out of their way to find any sort of outlet, and who depend on nocturnal emissions for most of their orgasms. There are some boys, particularly at lower social levels, who do not masturbate because they become involved in heterosexual coitus at such an early age that they have little need for other sources of outlet. There are some duller and slower reacting individuals who find it impossible to effect orgasm in masturbation, and who in consequence make no attempt to masturbate after their first experiments. Thus there is a group of males who definitely do not have masturbatory histories, although the percentage is as small as is indicated above.

Tables 4, 17, 22. Comparisons of data obtained from partial and hundred percent samples

Age		Hundred Percent versus
Partial Samples:
Accumulative Incidence Data 1		 Comparisons of Data
Obtained by Three Interviewers
Accumulative Incidence 2		 Comparisons of
Accumulative Incidence Data
Obtained in Successive Periods 3
Masturbation: Educational Level 13+
Partial Sample 100% Sample Histories Taken
by Kinsey		 Histories Taken
by Pomeroy		 Histories Taken
by Martin		 Histories Taken
1938-1942		Histories Taken
1943-1946
Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.		Cases % with
Exper.
8 2815 0.0 656 0.0 1783 0.0 595 0.2 324 0.0 1166 0.0 637 0.0
9 2815 0.3 656 0.3 1783 0.3 595 0.5 324 0.0 1166 0.2 637 0.6
10 2815 2.3 656 2.1 1783 2.3 595 2.7 324 1.9 1166 1.7 637 3.5
11 2815 8.9 656 8.2 1783 8.1 595 11.4 324 9.3 1166 6.9 637 9.1
12 2815 27.9 656 26.2 1783 26.4 595 31.1 324 29.0 1166 26.5 637 25.3
13 2815 52.9 656 52.3 1783 52.3 595 56.3 324 50.0 1166 54.0 637 49.1
14 2815 72.2 656 72.0 1783 72.4 595 72.8 324 69.1 1166 74.3 637 68.6
15 2815 80.2 656 81.3 1783 79.6 595 80.8 324 81.5 1166 81.6 637 75.7
16 2814 84.3 655 85.2 1782 83.6 595 83.4 324 88.3 1166 84.8 637 81.6
17 2812 87.0 655 88.2 1781 86.6 594 86.0 324 90.4 1165 87.6 637 84.9
18 2736 88.9 611 90.2 1756 88.7 573 88.7 306 90.8 1147 89.7 629 87.0
19 2572 90.0 539 91.8 1642 90.0 548 89.2 283 91.5 1047 91.2 612 88.1
20 2337 91.1 457 92.3 1472 90.6 522 90.8 255 93.3 878 91.1 594 89.9
21 2031 92.0 383 92.4 1273 91.4 472 91.7 216 94.0 705 92.1 558 91.0
22 1670 92.8 312 93.3 1038 92.2 413 92.7 167 94.6 502 92.6 503 91.8
23 1396 93.3 269 93.3 874 92.6 370 93.5 127 96.1 351 91.5 445 92.8
24 1151 93.1 242 93.8 740 92.7 314 93.3 86 94.2 256 91.8 385 92.5
25 1002 93.9 203 94.6 663 93.5 275 94.2 56 96.4 199 93.0 320 92.2
26 884 94.9 163 95.7 582 94.2 250 96.0    154 93.5 256 92.6
27 774 95.3 124 96.0 512 94.7 222 96.4    102 94.1 204 93.1
28 699 95.3 110 95.5 467 94.6 202 96.5    68 94.1 163 92.6
29 634 95.0 94 94.7 432 94.2 179 96.6    51 92.2 134 94.0
30 573 95.6 79 96.2 400 95.0 154 96.8       107 95.3
31 529 95.3 73 95.9 378 94.7 135 96.3       82 93.9
32 492 95.5 67 98.5 353 94.9 125 96.8       72 94.4
33 448 95.3 58 98.3 322 94.7 114 96.5       61 93.4
34 412 95.9 51 98.0 299 95.0 101 98.0         
35 382 95.8    277 94.9 95 97.9         
36 356 95.8    261 95.0 86 97.7         
37 323 95.7    233 94.8 81 97.5         
38 307 95.8    222 95.0 78 97.4         
39 280 95.4    207 94.7 66 97.0         
40 257 96.1    191 95.3 60 98.3         

1 Data on Hundred Percent versus Partial Samples based on males of the college level.
2 Data Obtained by Three Interviewers based on males of the college level
3 Accumulative Incidence Data Obtained in Successive Periods based on the pre-marital histories of males of the college level,
taken by one interviewer (Kinsey) in two successive four-year periods.

Figures 8, 16, 22. Comparisons of accumulative incidence curves
based on hundred percent and partial samples,
obtained by different interviewers and by one interviewer in successive four-year periods

Data on masturbation.
All calculations based on males of college level (13+).


In several of the previous studies on human male sexual behavior (Merrill 1918, Peck and Wells 1923, 1925, Hughes 1926, Hamilton 1929, Dickinson and Beam 1931, Peterson 1938, Wile 1941, Ramsey 1943, Finger 1947, Hohman and Schaffner 1947), similar incidence figures have been obtained. It is interesting to find that a number of the European studies report comparable incidences (85% to 96%) among European males (Rohleder 1902, 1921; also summary in Haire 1937). There is every reason to believe that the lower figures obtained in some of the other American studies (Brockman 1902, Exner 1915, Achilles 1923, Taylor 1933, Bromley and Britten 1938) represent failures to obtain the fact. It must be realized that masturbation is taboo and even strongly condemned among certain groups (Chapter 10); and while college men more often admit their experience, there are males in some other groups who would admit almost any other kind of sexual activity before they would give a record of masturbatory experience. On the other hand, the high incidence of masturbation in the male should not be taken as warrant for believing that there is a similarly high incidence in the female.
 
Figure 7. Relation of size of sample to form of frequency curve

Showing frequency distributions for masturbation in samples of various sizes.
Based on single males belonging to the age group 16-20, of college level (13+), and inactive Protestant.


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