Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

PSYCHOLOGY OF SEXKatharine Davis, who gave specialattention to this point,found, among 1,000 American college women above theage of 22 that 60 per cent, gave definite histories of masturbation.She investigated the whole question, perhapswith more thoroughness and in greaterdetail than anyother worker. Among unmarried college women graduatesshe found that 43.6 per cent, began the practice fromthe 3rd to the loth years inclusive; 20.2 per cent, from11 to 15 inclusive; 13.9 per cent, from 16 to 22 inclusive;15.5 per cent, from 23 to 29 inclusive. Comparing herresults with those of other investigators dealing with menthe results are as follows:MenWomenUp to and including 11 yrs 20.9 49.1Up to and including 12-14 yrs 44.3 14.6Up to and including 15-17 yrs 30.3 6.2Up to 18 yrs. and over 4.5 30.1These results carry weight because the groups includeabout 500 men to about 900 women. They show, to anunexpected degree, that girls masturbate early more oftenthan boys, and that during adolescence it is the boys wholargely predominate, while after adult age is reached, aswe should anticipate, women are in a large majority.Dr. Hamilton, in his careful study of 100 married menand 100 married women of good social standing, foundthat 97 per cent, of the men and 74 per cent, of thewomen had at some period masturbated. These resultsare fairly in accordance with the more general conclusionof Moll, whose work on The Sexual Life of the Child(1908) was the earliest comprehensive study of the subjectand is stillamong the most judicious. Moll remarks, however,that masturbation is not as common as is sometimessupposed in Germany, and I may add that it seems not so[100]