Solitary Sexual Desire: Its Relation to Subjective Orgasm Experience and Sexual Arousal in the Masturbation Context within a Spanish Population

Abstract

The tridimensional sexual desire proposal (i.e., dyadic to partner, dyadic to attractive other and solitary) has been empirically supported. However, solitary sexual desire and its relationship to other dimensions of sexual functioning has received less attention. Hence, we examined the capacity of solitary sexual desire to explain the subjective orgasm experience (Study 1) and sexual arousal (Study 2) in the context of solitary masturbation. Study 1, composed of 2406 heterosexual adults (M age = 39.72, SD = 11.81), assessed for solitary sexual desire, dyadic sexual desire, and the intensity of the subjective orgasm experience obtained through solitary masturbation, along with other associated parameters. Study 2, consisting of 41 heterosexual young people (M age = 22.49, SD = 3.17), evaluated the genital response (penile circumference/vaginal pulse amplitude) and subjective arousal to sexually explicit films related to solitary masturbation. In both men and women, solitary sexual desire accounted for a significant percentage of the subjective orgasm experience obtained through solitary masturbation. In addition, in women, the propensity for sexual arousal was explained by solitary sexual desire. It is concluded that solitary sexual desire -as opposed to dyadic- is important to explain sexual arousal and orgasm in the solitary masturbation context. These results highlight the importance of addressing sexual desire in the solitary context, given its implications with other dimensions of sexual functioning.

Relationship between Solitary Masturbation and Sexual Satisfaction: A Systematic Review

“…According to their hypothesis, people who masturbate may exhibit a strong auto-erotic orientation, which could make this behavior more gratifying than sexual relationships. This proposal is coherent with evidence showing that men report more solitary sexual desire than women [26,74,86], they report a higher masturbation frequency (e.g., [74,88]), and among the various reasons for practicing this behavior, sexual pleasure stands out [96]. So it is proposed that future studies which examine the relation between solitary masturbation and satisfaction should include the reasons why masturbation is practiced as a mediator variable.…”

“…In relation to the obtained findings about the relation between solitary masturbation and sexual satisfaction, the studies that jointly considered men and women pointed out a negative relation between solitary masturbation and sexual satisfaction [55,57,62,68] or no relation [57,66]. Despite some studies including gender as a covariable (e.g., [57,62]), the results must be cautiously considered given the known differences between men and women in the various parameters associated with masturbation [26,74,[86][87][88][89][90].…”

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (MGH-SFQ) with Sexual Arousal Measures in Men

“…Its use has been reported on numerous occasions in the scientific literature to associate sexual arousal with other constructs or variables related to sexual functioning. Such is the case of sexual desire (Cervilla, Jiménez-Antón et al, 2023; or orgasmic experience (Arcos-Romero et al, 2019;. In addition, from this consideration of sexual arousal as a state, the Dual Control Model of sexual response also describes it as an individual trait in the propensity to become sexually aroused or inhibited (c.f., Bancroft et al, 2009).…”