Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Masters and Johnson
The Masters and Johnson research team, composed of William H. Masters (1915–2001) and Virginia E. Johnson (1925–2013), pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s.
The work of Masters and Johnson began in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis and was continued at the independent not-for-profit research institution they founded in St. Louis in 1964, originally called the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation and renamed the Masters and Johnson Institute in 1978.
In the initial phase of Masters and Johnson's studies, from 1957 until 1965, they recorded some of the first laboratory data on the anatomy and physiology of human sexual response based on direct observation of 382 women and 312 men in what they conservatively estimated to be "10,000 complete cycles of sexual response". Their findings, particularly on the nature of female sexual arousal (for example, describing the mechanisms of vaginal lubrication and debunking the earlier widely held notion that vaginal lubrication originated from the cervix) and orgasm (showing that the physiology of orgasmic response was identical whether stimulation was clitoral or vaginal, and, separately, proving that some women were capable of being multiorgasmic), dispelled many long-standing misconceptions. They jointly wrote two classic texts in the field, Human Sexual Response and Human Sexual Inadequacy, published in 1966 and 1970 respectively. Both of these books were best-sellers and were translated into more than thirty languages.
The team has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Additionally, they are the focus of a television series called Masters of Sex for Showtime based on the 2009 biography by author Thomas Maier.
Masters and Johnson met in 1957 when William Masters hired Virginia Johnson as a research assistant to undertake a comprehensive study of human sexuality. According to author Thomas Maier, as part of their clinical research Masters and Johnson observed paid volunteers engaging in sexual activity while hooked to wires in their lab. At Masters's request, Masters and Johnson engaged in intercourse as subjects of their own study and eventually became lovers. Maier stated that Masters spent more time in the lab with Johnson than he did with his wife Libby and their children, and also spent summer vacations together with Johnson. By the time Masters divorced his first wife in 1971, associates believed that he and Johnson essentially lived together and worked and traveled together seven days a week. Masters and Johnson married in 1971 but then later divorced on March 18, 1993, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County; they nonetheless continued to work together professionally.
Previously, the study of human sexuality (sexology) had been a largely neglected field of study due to the restrictive social conventions of the time, with prostitution as a notable exception.
Alfred Kinsey and colleagues at Indiana University had previously published two volumes on sexual behavior in the human male and female (known as the Kinsey Reports), in 1948 and 1953 respectively, both of which had been revolutionary and controversial in their time. Kinsey's work, however, had mainly investigated the frequency with which certain behaviors occurred in the population and was based on personal interviews, not on laboratory observation. In contrast, Masters and Johnson set about to study the structure, psychology, and physiology of sexual behavior through observing and measuring masturbation and sexual intercourse in the laboratory.
Initially, participants used in their experiments were prostitutes. Masters and Johnson explained that they were a socially isolated group of people, they were knowledgeable about sex, and that they were willing to cooperate with the study. Of the 145 prostitutes who participated, only a select few were further evaluated for their genital anatomy and their physiological responses. In later studies, however, Masters and Johnson recruited 382 women and 312 men from the community. The vast majority of participants were white, had higher education levels, and most participants were married couples.
Hub AI
Masters and Johnson AI simulator
(@Masters and Johnson_simulator)
Masters and Johnson
The Masters and Johnson research team, composed of William H. Masters (1915–2001) and Virginia E. Johnson (1925–2013), pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s.
The work of Masters and Johnson began in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis and was continued at the independent not-for-profit research institution they founded in St. Louis in 1964, originally called the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation and renamed the Masters and Johnson Institute in 1978.
In the initial phase of Masters and Johnson's studies, from 1957 until 1965, they recorded some of the first laboratory data on the anatomy and physiology of human sexual response based on direct observation of 382 women and 312 men in what they conservatively estimated to be "10,000 complete cycles of sexual response". Their findings, particularly on the nature of female sexual arousal (for example, describing the mechanisms of vaginal lubrication and debunking the earlier widely held notion that vaginal lubrication originated from the cervix) and orgasm (showing that the physiology of orgasmic response was identical whether stimulation was clitoral or vaginal, and, separately, proving that some women were capable of being multiorgasmic), dispelled many long-standing misconceptions. They jointly wrote two classic texts in the field, Human Sexual Response and Human Sexual Inadequacy, published in 1966 and 1970 respectively. Both of these books were best-sellers and were translated into more than thirty languages.
The team has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Additionally, they are the focus of a television series called Masters of Sex for Showtime based on the 2009 biography by author Thomas Maier.
Masters and Johnson met in 1957 when William Masters hired Virginia Johnson as a research assistant to undertake a comprehensive study of human sexuality. According to author Thomas Maier, as part of their clinical research Masters and Johnson observed paid volunteers engaging in sexual activity while hooked to wires in their lab. At Masters's request, Masters and Johnson engaged in intercourse as subjects of their own study and eventually became lovers. Maier stated that Masters spent more time in the lab with Johnson than he did with his wife Libby and their children, and also spent summer vacations together with Johnson. By the time Masters divorced his first wife in 1971, associates believed that he and Johnson essentially lived together and worked and traveled together seven days a week. Masters and Johnson married in 1971 but then later divorced on March 18, 1993, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County; they nonetheless continued to work together professionally.
Previously, the study of human sexuality (sexology) had been a largely neglected field of study due to the restrictive social conventions of the time, with prostitution as a notable exception.
Alfred Kinsey and colleagues at Indiana University had previously published two volumes on sexual behavior in the human male and female (known as the Kinsey Reports), in 1948 and 1953 respectively, both of which had been revolutionary and controversial in their time. Kinsey's work, however, had mainly investigated the frequency with which certain behaviors occurred in the population and was based on personal interviews, not on laboratory observation. In contrast, Masters and Johnson set about to study the structure, psychology, and physiology of sexual behavior through observing and measuring masturbation and sexual intercourse in the laboratory.
Initially, participants used in their experiments were prostitutes. Masters and Johnson explained that they were a socially isolated group of people, they were knowledgeable about sex, and that they were willing to cooperate with the study. Of the 145 prostitutes who participated, only a select few were further evaluated for their genital anatomy and their physiological responses. In later studies, however, Masters and Johnson recruited 382 women and 312 men from the community. The vast majority of participants were white, had higher education levels, and most participants were married couples.