Masturbation is a topic that is increasingly given a biopsychosocial perspective in the contemporary landscape of mental health. Although traditionally it belongs to the world of biology or personal pleasure, its use as a means of psychology is important. Self-stimulation, to most people, is a reaction to emotional turbulence, stress, anxiety, or the nagging loneliness.
While masturbation is a common response to the “nagging loneliness” or emotional turbulence of daily life, there is a sharp, critical divide in how it is applied. It isn’t just about the act; it’s about whether it serves as a functional bridge to resilience or a regressive slide into avoidance. By looking through the lens of Richard Lazarus’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, we can see that this behaviour isn’t happening in a vacuum. Instead, it’s a dynamic part of how a person negotiates their internal resources to adapt to the world around them.
The Neurochemical Regulation Physiology
The short-term pleasure of masturbation as a stress reliever is the rewarding chemistry of the body. In the process of sexual arousal and later climax, the brain produces a powerful cocktail of neurochemicals, such as dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin. According to research by Levin (2005), sexual arousal has several physiological activities, and they include modulation of the nervous system. Dopamine offers a quick feeling of pleasure and reward, whereas endorphins are natural analgesics that decrease physical/emotional pain.
In addition, the discharge of oxytocin, which is commonly referred to as the hormone of attachment, has been found to reduce cortisol levels and promote a relaxation state. Schneiderman et al. (2012) discovered that the greater the oxytocin concentration, the greater the interactive reciprocity and emotional connection is likely to be, and this may be perceived as a sense of security even when being alone in sexual intercourse. To a person who is having acute anxiety, this neurochemical repositioning can be considered a biological reset button, which temporarily silences the sympathetic nervous system of the fight-or-flight reaction and induces a feeling of relaxation.
Read More: The Psychology Behind Masturbation: What You Need to Know?
The Stress Model by Lazarus is a Transactional Model
To identify whether masturbation is a good strategy, it is necessary to consider the way in which stress is cognitively processed. Another theory put forward by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman (1984) is that stress is not an external burden, but rather a transaction between the two parties, the environment and the individual. There are two important appraisal phases in this process:
- Primary Appraisal: The person assesses an event to decide whether it is a threat, a challenge, or irrelevant. To illustrate, the excessive academic load may be evaluated as a danger to personal self-esteem or the future profession.
- Secondary Appraisal: The person evaluates their own internal and external assets in order to contain that danger.
When one feels that they have exhausted their resources, they seek a way of coping. Masturbation tends to appear in the secondary appraisal as a cheap, high-payoff internal resource that is intended to reduce the negative emotion caused by the threat.
Read More: Cognitive Appraisal Theory: How Your Mind Shapes Your Emotions
Coping vs. Avoidance Escape
Lazarus (1984) divided coping into two functional styles, namely Problem-Focused and Emotion-Focused Coping.
- Emotion-Focused Coping: It is the way of coping with the emotional distress related to a stressor. The classic example of this is masturbation. It does not resolve the issue (the workload does not disappear), but it controls the emotions of being overwhelmed. This can be adaptive when used wisely; the person will be able to resume the task with a clearer mind since emotional arousal has been lowered.
- Avoidant Coping (Escape): When it is a means of avoiding the Primary Appraisal completely, masturbation becomes an escape. When one is self-medicating or trying to deny a problem, it is a kind of avoidant coping. Studies of the Five-Factor Model of Personality indicate that people with certain personality characteristics, including high neuroticism or poor agreeableness, might be more willing to use sexual behaviours as a form of aggression management or as a means of stress externalisation instead of dealing with it internally (Carvalho and Nobre, 2019).
Read More: What to do when you are feeling overwhelmed
Intersection of Loneliness and Attachment
Masturbation can also be used as some kind of a proxy for intimate communication in the context of loneliness. Although it is not as interpersonally reciprocal as a partner, oxytocin release gives a momentary feeling of safety. Nonetheless, the aspect of self-stimulation is very likely to be linked to the attachment style of those involved in relationships.
Butzer and Campbell (2008) discovered that the aspect of adult attachment has a great impact on sexual and relationship satisfaction. In persons whose attachment is secure, masturbation can be a positive sexual activity. However, with individuals who have insecure attachment, it can be employed to escape the vulnerability of partner intimacy or in reaction to the pressure of relationship conflict. In such situations, the escape into self-stimulation may, unintentionally, establish a greater emotional distance between partners. It may make a stress-reducing device an obstacle to contact.
Read More: How to communicate about intimacy issues?
Conclusion
Masturbation is a complicated psychological instrument that serves as a physiological tranquilliser and an emotional stabiliser. In the context of the Transactional Model proposed by Lazarus, it is an emotion-centred coping mechanism that may be used to reduce the short-term effects of a stressor. The well-being of this behaviour is, however, determined by its purposefulness and situation. It is an effective process of resilience when it is employed as a conscious process of calming oneself in order to restore emotional balance. As a regular avoidance of facing reality or developing relationships, it can be a maladaptive avoidance. That can lead to psychological health issues in the long run.
References +
- Butzer, B., & Campbell, L. (2008). Adult attachment, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples. Personal Relationships, 15(1), 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00189.x
- Carvalho, J., & Nobre, P. J. (2019). Five-factor model of personality and sexual aggression. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63(5), 797–814. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X13481941
- Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
- Levin R. J. (2005). Sexual arousal–its physiological roles in human reproduction. Annual review of sex research, 16, 154–189.
- Schneiderman, I., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Leckman, J. F., & Feldman, R. (2012). Oxytocin during the initial stages of romantic attachment: Relations to couples’ interactive reciprocity. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37(8), 1277–1285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.12.021
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