Office Masturbation

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Key points

Some surveys find that nearly 40 percent of people report masturbating in the workplace.
Potential benefits of workplace masturbation include stress reduction, mood enhancement, and increased concentration.
Costs to workplace masturbation include termination and possible accusation of criminal sexual misconduct.
Scientific research is lacking in understanding the dynamics and attitudes surrounding masturbating at work.

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Mental Health

Addiction

Anxiety

ADHD

Asperger's

Autism

Bipolar Disorder

Chronic Pain

Depression

Eating Disorders

Personality

Passive Aggression

Personality

Shyness

Personal Growth

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Happiness

Positive Psychology

Stopping Smoking

Relationships

Low Sexual Desire

Relationships

Sex

Family Life

Child Development

Parenting

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Coronavirus Disease 2019

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Neuroscience

We all harbor secrets. Some are big and bad; some are small and trivial. Researchers have parsed which truths to tell and which not to.

Posted June 25, 2021

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Reviewed by Devon Frye

Ted locks his office door and draws the shades on his window. Kate checks for shoes under each bathroom stall before entering the one furthest away from the public restroom entrance. Both of these individuals are preparing to masturbate at work.
Masturbating in the workplace is not an uncommon occurrence. The act has even found its way into mainstream popular culture. In the film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Matthew McConaughey instructs his new employee (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) to do it at work as many times as needed to keep from imploding in the high-stress world of stockbroker culture.
How many people are masturbating while on the clock? In a survey conducted by Time Out New York , 39 percent of respondents reported having masturbated at their place of work. During the COVID-19 lockdown, an online retailer, Yellow Octopus , surveyed 1,000 people from the U.S., Australia, UK, and Canada about their masturbatory habits while working from home. In that survey, 35 percent of men and 17 percent of women acknowledged that they masturbated while working remotely. One respondent was quoted as saying, “[It’s] like I get paid to masturbate.”
(One must bear in mind that, first, these are non-scientific surveys and, second, that there is often underreporting in surveys such as these. Even when the survey is designed for anonymous responses, some people still will not admit to sexual behaviors that they engage in.)
In my own research, several participants have included stories about masturbating at work in their sexual narratives. One female respondent claimed to masturbate in the public bathroom at her work regularly 2-3 times per eight-hour shift. She said it gave her a “moment of peace in an otherwise aggravating work environment.” Following the time to herself, she claims to have a better attitude around her co-workers and feels less tense in the stress-fueled culture of her workplace—at least for a little while.
The benefits of masturbating have been well established in many studies, but scientific research on masturbating at the workplace is practically non-existent. Nevertheless, one can hypothesize that many of the established physical benefits of masturbating are transferable to high tension environments like the workplace. Masturbating increases dopamine and endorphins that provide reward and stress relief. At the workplace, a masturbation break may provide momentary relaxation, increase concentration , enhance mood, aid in stress reduction, and release tension. In fact, in an interview with Metro , senior lecturer in psychology at Nottingham Trent University, Mark Sergeant, suggested that a worker can be more effective and less stressed at work if they were given time to masturbate at work—it could replace the cigarette break. And Sergeant is not alone, other psychologists have made the same suggestion.
There are, of course, costs to masturbating at work, discovery being the primary one. While this would likely lead to immense embarrassment , that's far from the only possible cost. There is the issue of being accused of sexual misconduct. To cite a recent example, writer and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was suspended from CNN and fired from his post at the New Yorker last November for masturbating during a staff Zoom call. Toobin says he believed his video was turned off and muted. Still, the incident fell under sexual misconduct and carried ramifications.
While masturbation itself is not illegal, depending on the situation, it could be viewed as indecent exposure or fall under the heading of “hostile work environment harassment,” based on unwanted sexual conduct. In either case, there could be legal proceedings beyond termination. Furthermore, the act can easily become a job blocker.
Psychotherapist, Ian Kerner, Ph.D. , notes that people need to respect workplace structures and create boundaries, but acknowledges the benefits some people get from masturbating at work. “Masturbation is healthy. Masturbation is typical, normal, and people masturbate for very different reasons: sometimes to relax, sometimes to experience pleasure, sometimes to enjoy a fantasy , and sometimes to relieve anxiety or self-medicate against some kind of difficult mood or emotion.” Kerner continues, “Very often, in my experience, when men masturbate in the workplace, it’s because masturbation has become a pretty substantial coping mechanism. That’s why I have a lot of male patients who will masturbate in the workplace. They feel a lot of stress and they’re in an activated, stressful , anxious place and they’re not fully thinking, and the next thing they’re in the bathroom masturbating.”
People are masturbating at work. But, it’s not something people talk about. Masturbation, in and of itself, is still a fairly taboo topic, despite the fact that most people masturbate. Masturbating at work is even more of a taboo topic of discussion. Scientific research does not seem to have truly explored workplace masturbation. Research is needed to understand the dynamics, patterns, and attitudes surrounding these personal breaks in the workday.
David W. Wahl, Ph.D. , is a social psychologist and sex researcher. His work focuses on issues related to sexual desire and behavior, shaming and stigmatization, sex and gender, sexual violence, sex work, and human trafficking.

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We all harbor secrets. Some are big and bad; some are small and trivial. Researchers have parsed which truths to tell and which not to.

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It’s safe to say that this article is quite NSFW – but then again, surely so is, um, taking a toilet break to practice some self-love, right?
Well, actually, several studies are saying that a) masturbating is an ideal response to stress and helps you to decompress (which, yes, we can see) and that b) not only are this amount of your co-workers having sex in your office , around 39% of the workforce masturbate at work.
Yeah, it’s a little surprising and no, you’re never going to look at your colleagues in quite the same way again.
A Time Out New York survey showed that both men and women have masturbated at work, with one admitting to having once masturbated three times in a day in their office.
But, considering that researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered that masturbation doesn’t only release endorphins and reduce stress, it also increases women’s self-esteem, maybe it’s not such a bad thing to do if you have a, erm, minute (or 10)?
Would you have a masturbation break at work in the name of extra productivity and focus?
Well, the downside to this is that if you fail to achieve orgasm , you’re just going to be even more frustrated and it could result in pretty long breaks…
And, although the survey included both genders, it’s clear to see that this is a relaxation technique perhaps aimed more at male employees than women. Plus, I don’t know about you but our office bathrooms aren’t that nice/comfortable/private…
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This just in: women masturbate! It's totally normal and healthy! Everyone does it! Yay! So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about on-screen female masturbation scenes—which are pretty few and far between compared to their male equivalents because for some reason people get super uncomfortable with the idea that women like sex (opens in new tab) . And more specifically, like touching themselves.
Even now, this is considered pretty scandalous—so cheers to films and TV shows like Fleabag , Girls , The Deuce , and Reign for breaking taboos.
The scene: Single mom Bridgette [Shaw, who also created the series] masturbates to photos of her ex's new girlfriend after a hilariously failed attempt to get off with a vibrator earlier in the episode.
Her comments (opens in new tab) on it: “Part of what I’m drawn to when I’m writing is sort of a fantasy aspect [of women] and the secret life. So, a lot of this is a huge discrepancy between reality and women’s fantasy lives."
The scene: Fans think Sam and Gabe are on again in the season two premiere—until its revealed that their hot and heavy sex scene is actually Sam's fantasy, and that she's in bed alone with a vibrator.
Her comments on it: None, because BFD.
The scene: Aimee Gibbs gets in touch with her own sexuality during her first masturbation experience, trying out lots of positions and techniques to figure out what works for her.
Her comments (opens in new tab) on it: "It’s just so weird because [in school] you would hear boys talking about, 'Oh, I watched this video last night. I had the best wank, da-da-da-da-da.' They'd be shameless about it at school, and it was all the girls being like, 'I don't know what that is. We don't masturbate.' It was a complete taboo. I think debunking some of those myths about if a boy plugs away, a girl's going to have a great time, but no, girls need to be like, 'No, this is what I want.' So I'm really happy that that's in the show.
The scene: Textbook housewife Betty Draper is at home, doing housewifey chores, when she notices that the washing machine is shaking. Upon closer inspection, she realizes that the vibrating machine is actually totally fine and indulges in a fantasy.
Her comments on it: None, about the washing machine love scene. Jones has talked about Betty's sexuality more broadly, however, recalling (opens in new tab) that Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, "keeps telling me: 'She is a sexual person
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