性是人類不可或缺的需求之一，然而性知識的缺乏導致人們對性存在負面觀點，自慰更存在許多道德偏見與謬誤，影響人們的性健康。本文闡述東、西方自十八世紀以來，從手淫到自慰之論述變遷，並介紹自慰的方式與類型，最後綜整現有自慰實證研究成果，期能破除人類對自慰污名的迷思，將它視為性愉悅方式，且能站在現有研究基礎上，突破自慰頻率、知識及態度的範疇，從性健康角度出發，以提供更多的實證成果，促進人類性健康。

Sex is an indispensable need of human beings. However, the lack of sex knowledge results in people's negative perspectives of sex. The moral prejudices and myths about masturbation affect human beings' sexual health. This article reviews the transition from harmful to helpful effect of masturbation, describes the methods and types of masturbation, and then, integrates the results of the existing empirical studies on masturbation. The purpose of this study is to eradicate stigma of masturbation and to regard it as sex pleasure. Moreover, this article establishes the base to go beyond the areas of frequency, knowledge and attitude covered by previous studies in the field of masturbation research. The researchers expect to provide more empirical studies in the future to promote sexual health for human beings.