Most large surveys find that roughly three-quarters of adult men and about four in ten adult women report masturbating in any given month, though frequency varies wildly from person to person. Those numbers come with a big asterisk: people almost certainly underreport, so the real figures are probably higher. What shapes someone’s masturbation habits turns out to be a tangle of gender, age, relationship satisfaction, religious background, and even the medications they take.
What the Surveys Actually Show
The best data on masturbation frequency comes from large, nationally representative surveys that ask thousands of people about their sexual behavior anonymously. A U.S. nationally representative survey found that significantly more men than women reported lifetime masturbation, past-month masturbation, and greater masturbation frequency across the board.1PubMed Central. Masturbation Prevalence, Frequency, Reasons, and Associations with Partnered Sex in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey British national surveys found that about 77% of men and 40% of women reported masturbating in the past month during the 2010–2012 survey wave, up from about 73% and 37% a decade earlier.2PubMed. Trends in Masturbation Prevalence and Associated Factors: Findings from the British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles
Those numbers describe whether someone masturbated at all in a given month, not how often. Frequency is harder to pin down because surveys use different time windows and categories. Some people masturbate daily or more; others do so a few times a month or less. No single “average” captures the real distribution because it is so spread out. A meaningful chunk of people, particularly women, report not masturbating at all in any recent period, which drags any average down while a smaller group masturbates quite frequently and pulls it up.
The Gender Gap
The most consistent finding in masturbation research is the gap between men and women. Men report higher rates at every age bracket and in every country studied. This gap shows up not just in who masturbates but in how often. In the British surveys, the difference was roughly 37 percentage points for past-month masturbation. The U.S. data mirrors this pattern closely.
Researchers debate how much of this gap reflects genuine differences in desire versus differences in willingness to report. Women face more cultural stigma around masturbation, and studies on social desirability bias suggest that people tend to underreport behaviors they perceive as socially unacceptable.3PubMed Central. The Influence of Social Desirability on Sexual Behavior Surveys: A Review That said, even in the most anonymous survey conditions, a gap persists. The difference is real, but its size is probably exaggerated by reporting bias.
How Age Changes the Picture
Masturbation typically begins during adolescence and is considered a normal part of sexual development. Research on U.S. adolescents found that many teens masturbate and that fundamental differences between male and female sexual expression appear early.4PubMed. Prevalence, frequency, and associations of masturbation with partnered sexual behaviors among US adolescents A separate study found no evidence that early masturbation experience is either beneficial or harmful to sexual adjustment later in life, so it seems to be a fairly neutral part of growing up.5PubMed. Gender differences in masturbation and the relation of masturbation experience in preadolescence and/or early adolescence to sexual behavior and sexual adjustment in young adulthood
Many people assume masturbation drops off sharply in old age, but the data tells a more nuanced story. A study of adults aged 60 and older across four European countries found that between 41% and 65% of men and 27% and 40% of women reported masturbating in the past month.6PubMed Central. Prevalence of Masturbation and Associated Factors Among Older Adults in Four European Countries Norway had the highest rates, with 65% of older men and 40% of older women reporting recent masturbation, while Portugal had the lowest at 41% and 27%. The country-to-country variation among older adults was striking and suggests that cultural attitudes, not just biology, shape behavior well into later life.
Why These Numbers Are Almost Certainly Too Low
Sex research faces a fundamental measurement problem: there is no way to verify what people actually do in private. Researchers rely on self-reports, and self-reports about stigmatized behaviors tend to be inaccurate. A review of social desirability effects in sexual behavior research found that even with anonymous responding, people significantly under- or overreport behaviors depending on cultural expectations. Extreme misreporting was as common in sex research as in other fields where social desirability is a factor.3PubMed Central. The Influence of Social Desirability on Sexual Behavior Surveys: A Review
The method of data collection matters too. When researchers in Malawi compared face-to-face interviews with computer-assisted self-interviews for sensitive sexual topics, they found that people reported stigmatized behaviors at higher rates when no interviewer was present, a pattern consistent with social desirability bias rather than random error.7PubMed Central. Social Desirability Bias in Sexual Behavior Reporting: Evidence from an Interview Mode Experiment in Rural Malawi The implication for masturbation surveys is straightforward: the true prevalence is likely higher than what any survey captures, and the gap between men and women may be somewhat narrower than reported.
Relationship Status Matters More Than You Might Think
A common assumption is that masturbation is mostly a substitute for partnered sex, something single people do because they lack a partner. The research does not support that simple story. A study examining the relationship between masturbation and partnered sex found that both partnered status and sexual contentment were more obvious predictors of masturbation than was recent frequency of sex.8PubMed. Masturbation and Partnered Sex: Substitutes or Complements? In other words, how happy you are with your sex life predicts your masturbation habits more than how often you are having sex with a partner.
Many people in satisfying relationships masturbate regularly, and many single people do not masturbate at all. The substitute-versus-complement framing oversimplifies what is really a more personal calculation. For some, masturbation fills a gap; for others, it is a separate behavior driven by its own motivations, from stress relief to simple habit.
Religion, Culture, and Guilt
Cultural and religious context powerfully shapes both whether people masturbate and how they feel about it. A study of women’s masturbation found that women who were younger, identified as non-White, and endorsed more religious fundamentalist beliefs were more likely to report negative feelings about masturbation.9Texas Woman’s University. Women’s masturbation: an exploration of the influence of shame, guilt, and religiosity Shame and guilt did not necessarily stop masturbation entirely, but they colored the experience and made people less willing to discuss it.
Among male religious teenagers in one study, about 41% reported never masturbating, and 67% believed masturbation was forbidden by their religion.10PubMed. Frequency of nocturnal emissions and masturbation habits among virgin male religious teenagers These numbers reflect a specific, highly religious population and are not generalizable, but they illustrate how strongly religious doctrine can suppress reported behavior or actual behavior or both. The cross-country differences among European older adults mentioned earlier also hint at cultural forces: countries with more permissive sexual norms consistently report higher masturbation rates.
The Prostate Cancer Connection
One of the most frequently cited health claims about masturbation involves prostate cancer risk. A large, long-running study of health professionals found that men who ejaculated 21 or more times per month had a roughly 20% lower risk of prostate cancer compared to men who ejaculated four to seven times per month, with the association holding when researchers followed up after an additional decade.11PubMed Central. Ejaculation Frequency and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Updated Results with an Additional Decade of Follow-up An earlier analysis from the same cohort had also found a protective association with high ejaculation frequency, particularly for organ-confined disease.12PubMed. Ejaculation frequency and subsequent risk of prostate cancer
Before treating frequent masturbation as cancer prevention, though, some important caveats apply. A narrative review of the broader evidence noted that while some studies suggest an inverse relationship between ejaculation frequency and prostate cancer risk, others present conflicting findings.13PubMed. Ejaculation Frequency and Prostate Cancer Risk: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence The protective association was driven mainly by low-risk disease, and the studies counted total ejaculations, not masturbation specifically. It is also an observational finding, meaning researchers cannot rule out that men who ejaculate more often differ from those who do not in ways that independently affect cancer risk. The direction of the evidence is encouraging but far from settled.
Mood, Stress, and Sleep
People frequently report masturbating for reasons beyond physical pleasure, and the research backs up those motivations. A review of masturbation in long-distance relationships found that men were mainly motivated by biological release, orgasm, and stress reduction, while women reported broader motives including relaxation, better sleep, and emotional closeness. Psychologically, masturbation served as a coping strategy for sleep and stress, though excessive engagement increased anxiety and reduced emotional well-being.14The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Masturbation as a sexual and psychological coping strategy in long-distance relationships: a systematic review
A study focused specifically on women found that masturbation was used as a reliable coping and self-care strategy that induced positive feelings like happiness and relaxation.15PubMed Central. Exploring the Role of Masturbation as a Coping Strategy in Women Separately, research on the neurochemical effects of masturbation found that it triggers fluctuations in dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, and that these changes may enhance mood regulation and stress relief rather than impairing cognitive function as some myths suggest.16Sexuality & Culture. The Memory-Masturbation Link: Analyzing Psychological Impacts and Myths
When It Feels Like Too Much
Frequency alone does not determine whether masturbation is a problem. A large study investigated how many people experienced what could be called “problematic masturbation” using several different definitions. About 8% of men and 3% of women reported masturbating more than they wanted to and feeling sexually distressed about it. But when the researchers also required that those individuals masturbate more often than the population average, the numbers dropped to about 2% of men and under 1% of women.17PubMed. Actual and Desired Masturbation Frequency, Sexual Distress, and Their Correlates
Interestingly, about 6% of men and 2% of women masturbated less often than average but still felt distressed about it. This finding underscores that the distress often comes from guilt, shame, or conflicting beliefs rather than from the behavior’s frequency. Someone who masturbates once a week can feel just as troubled as someone who does it daily if their personal or cultural expectations tell them they should not be doing it at all. Clinicians are encouraged to explore the source of distress rather than simply targeting frequency.
Hormones and the Testosterone Myth
A persistent claim in fitness and “no-fap” communities is that masturbation tanks your testosterone levels. The actual research does not support this. A study measuring hormonal responses to masturbation in healthy young men found that masturbation actually attenuated the normal daily decline in free testosterone rather than lowering it.18PubMed Central. Hormonal response after masturbation in young healthy men – a randomized controlled cross-over pilot study A separate study looking at men after three weeks of sexual abstinence found that plasma testosterone was unaltered by orgasm itself, though higher testosterone concentrations were observed after the period of abstinence.19PubMed. Endocrine response to masturbation-induced orgasm in healthy men following a 3-week sexual abstinence
So abstinence may temporarily raise testosterone, but masturbation does not meaningfully suppress it. The temporary post-abstinence bump is small and transient, and there is no evidence it translates into better athletic performance or muscle growth. The testosterone angle is one of the more overstated claims in the broader cultural conversation about masturbation.
How Medications Shift Desire and Frequency
One of the most common but least discussed influences on masturbation frequency is medication, particularly antidepressants. Sexual dysfunction is a well-documented side effect of many antidepressants and can include decreased desire, difficulty reaching orgasm, and ejaculation problems.20PubMed Central. Antidepressant-associated sexual dysfunction: impact, effects, and treatment Controlled studies have confirmed that these effects occur significantly more often with active antidepressants than with placebo and affect both men and women, though men tend to report a higher incidence.21Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Effects of Antidepressant Medication on Sexual Function: A Controlled Study
SSRIs in particular carry a twofold risk of low sexual desire and a sevenfold risk of delayed ejaculation. Users also reported less enjoyment with masturbation and decreased partner desire.22The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Induced Sexual Dysfunction If you have noticed a steep drop in your interest in masturbation or your ability to orgasm after starting a new medication, the medication is a likely culprit. This is worth bringing up with a prescriber, because options exist, including dose adjustments, switching medications, or adding a counteracting agent.
Sex Toys and Older Women
Among women over 60 who reported masturbating in the past year, more than half used sex toys at least occasionally, and nearly half used them almost always. External vibrators were the most commonly used product, followed by penetrative toys. Women who almost always used sex toys reported reaching orgasm at a higher rate: about 84% compared to roughly 75% of those who used them less often.23Contemporary OB/GYN. Sex toy use linked to orgasm frequency in women over 60 These numbers push back against the assumption that masturbation and sexual pleasure are exclusively young people’s territory, and they suggest that tools and technique matter for satisfaction at any age.
Why Masturbation Exists at All
From a purely evolutionary standpoint, masturbation looks like a waste of energy and reproductive material. Yet it is widespread across the animal kingdom, particularly among primates. A large comparative study of nearly 300 primate species found strong evidence that masturbation co-evolved with two factors in males: mating systems where multiple males compete for mates, and the presence of sexually transmitted pathogens.24PubMed Central. The evolution of masturbation is associated with postcopulatory selection and pathogen avoidance in primates In species where multiple males compete, masturbation persisted once it evolved and was almost never lost. When pathogens were present, the same pattern held: masturbation was retained in nearly every case.
The leading explanations are that masturbation may help males keep sperm fresh and competitive, and that flushing the reproductive tract may reduce infection risk. These are evolutionary hypotheses about why the behavior stuck around across millions of years, not prescriptions for modern humans. But they do help explain why masturbation is so deeply embedded in primate biology rather than being a quirk of human culture. The urge did not originate in the modern world; it predates humanity itself.