The effects of sex and handedness on masturbation laterality and other lateralised motor behaviours
Affiliation
University of Chester; University of East LondonPublication Date
2021-11-26
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Masturbation is a common human behaviour. Compared to other unimanual behaviours it has unique properties, including increased sexual and emotional arousal, and privacy. Self-reported hand preference for masturbation was examined in 104 left-handed and 103 right-handed women, and 100 left-handed and 99 right-handed men. Handedness (modified Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, EHI), footedness, eyedness, and cheek kissing preferences were also measured. Seventy nine percent used their dominant hand (always/usually) for masturbation, but left-handers (71.5%) were less consistently lateralised to use their dominant hand than right-handers (86.5%). Hand preference for masturbation correlated more strongly with handedness (EHI), than with footedness, eyedness, or cheek preference. There was no difference in masturbation frequency between left and right-handers, but men masturbated more frequently than women, and more women (75%) than men (33%) masturbated with sex aids. For kissing the preferred cheek of an emotionally close person from the viewer’s perspective, left-handers showed a left-cheek preference, and right-handers a weaker right-cheek preference. The results suggest that hemispheric asymmetries in emotion do not influence hand preference for masturbation but may promote a leftward shift in cheek kissing. In all, masturbation is lateralised in a similar way to other manual motor behaviours in left-handed and right-handed men and women.Citation
Rodway, P., Thoma, V., & Schepman, A. (2022). The effects of sex and handedness on masturbation laterality and other lateralized motor behaviours. Laterality, 27(3), 324-352. https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2021.2006211Publisher
Taylor & FrancisJournal
LateralityAdditional Links
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1357650X.2021.2006211Type
ArticleDescription
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Laterality on 26/11/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2021.2006211ISSN
1357-650XEISSN
1464-0678ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/1357650X.2021.2006211
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