Mutual masturbation is the key to a happy sex life, say scientists. Compared to sex, it has a bunch of advantages

Masturbation can be done alone, but feel free to do it with a partner. If you don't keep your hands to yourself, but tease each other, we're talking about mutual masturbation. And that's what experts at the University of Southampton say can be the key to greater sexual satisfaction. That's according to their survey of 117 women and 151 men aged 18 to 65.

The scientific study was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Sexual Health and the results show that those who enjoy mutual masturbation tend to be more satisfied in bed than those who refrain from the activity.

Most do

More than 50% of those surveyed said they had engaged in mutual masturbation with a partner in the past two weeks. And these are the people who are sexually happier than those who last masturbated with a partner more than two weeks ago, according to the research. In addition, of those who had not engaged in this activity during those two weeks, women were slightly less satisfied than men.

The largest number of respondents (19.5%) reported that they had last masturbated with their partner a few days ago. The second largest group, however, were those who had never masturbated with each other. 16.5% of them.

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Greater satisfaction in bed

The survey took the form of a questionnaire in which respondents indicated the degree of positive emotions in relation to their sexual satisfaction. The highest possible total score was 60, and the average of all responses was 45.45.

"The current findings suggest that mutual masturbation is common among couples and many of the people talk about positive feelings in relation to this behavior," says psychologist and study leader Dilan Kiliç.

Another part of the research involved having participants indicate, on a scale of 0 to 5, how much they felt about 23 emotions in relation to mutual masturbation. 8 of the emotions were positive and 15 were negative.

Of the 40 theoretically possible points that would indicate maximum satisfaction for positive emotions, respondents answered an average of 29.58 points. In contrast, for the negative emotions, maximum dissatisfaction would mark a maximum score of 75 points. However, responses averaged only 24.41 points. This means that people have a significantly positive attitude towards mutual masturbation.

But everything has its limits.

If you're wondering if there were any differences in attitudes towards this type of frolicking between men and women, then know that "there was no statistically significant difference between men and women in negative feelings towards mutual masturbation."

But the study has its flaws, as the authors themselves point out. The group of participants was not sufficiently diverse, being mostly white and well-educated people who were young and reported not attending religious events. In other demographic groups, the results might have been different.

At the same time, it is also not possible to say with certainty that mutual masturbation leads to better sexual satisfaction, and that the reverse is not true in stuency. Indeed, it is also possible that it is greater sexual satisfaction that results from practicing mutual mesturbace. "We cannot determine the causal direction of the association," the researchers write in the study.

Advantages of masturbation over penetrative sex

Either way, mutual masturbation has many advantages over penetrative sex (i.e., sex where one partner's penis is inserted somewhere in the other's body). And it can also be very varied. No one says it has to be purely "manual labour". Participants are free to take erotic materials or erotic toys and try out different techniques.

• Minimal risk of disease and pregnancy

One of the biggest advantages of mutual or joint masturbation is the very low or virtually zero risk of transmitting any STDs. Just as there is little chance of pregnancy in the case of inter-sexual frolicking. You can't rule it out, after all, you will probably get bodily fluids on each other, but you can be much more relaxed.

• Easier to perform

Mutual masturbation is also theoretically easier to perform. Especially when it comes to sex play between two men, there is virtually no preparation needed - unlike preparing for anal sex. And it also doesn't have to physically exhaust you as much, since you just have to make the movements with a smaller body part.

• Less stress and communication support

Anxiety about underperforming is something many people experience during sex. Men can then have problems with erections, for example, because of nerves. But with mutual masturbation, this tension can fall away because there is no need to insert anything. Plus, everyone knows how their body works and what they like. So he can show what he wants his partner to repeat afterwards. This contributes to better communication in the relationship and also further relieves the tension of the partners groping each other in the erotic act.