An empirical investigation of experimentally induced masturbatory fantasies.

The nature and correlates of experimentally induced masturbatory fantasies were studied. Subjects were requested to construct a story using the film of either a male or a female masturbating to orgasm as the eliciting stimulus. Results indicated that there are many sex differences in masturbatory fantasies which are most likely a consequence of the differential ability of men and women to form a positive projective identification with the same-sex protagonist in a film of masturbation as well as a function of the variations in the process by which men and women assimilate masturbation into a larger set of social meanings. The findings also attest to the ability of sex guilt and negative attitudes toward masturbation to account for the variability in masturbatory fantasies in a theoretically consistent and reliable manner.