- In full:
- William Howell Masters
- Born:
- December 27, 1915, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
- Died:
- February 16, 2001, Tucson, Arizona (aged 85)
- Founder:
- Masters & Johnson Institute
- Notable Works:
- “Human Sexual Response”
- Notable Family Members:
- spouse Virginia E. Johnson
- Subjects Of Study:
- human sexual activity
William H. Masters
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Who was William H. Masters?
William H. Masters (1915–2001) was an American gynecologist and pioneer in human sexuality research and sex therapy. With Virginia E. Johnson, he researched sex physiology and co-founded the Masters & Johnson Institute in 1964, a clinic for couples with sexual dysfunction.
Masters studied medicine at the University of Rochester, mentored by George Washington Corner, sparking his interest in human reproduction. In 1954, he began investigating human sexuality, initially studying prostitutes. Johnson joined him in 1956–57, assisting with research and recruiting study participants. Together, they observed and recorded physiological changes during sexual activity, publishing their findings in Human Sexual Response (1966). Masters and Johnson divorced in 1993, and he retired and closed the institute in 1994.
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What field of medicine is William H. Masters known for?
William H. Masters was an American gynecologist and pioneer in the field of human sexuality research and sex therapy. In 1964, Masters, along with his partner Virginia E. Johnson, established the Masters & Johnson Institute, a clinic for couples with sexual dysfunction.
Masters' early research focused on hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women, gynecologic surgery, and infertility. In 1954, he began to investigate human sexuality and sex physiology, interviewing and observing prostitutes. Later, Masters and Johnson interviewed volunteers about their sexual histories and observed them performing sexual acts, using tools to record physiological changes associated with sexual arousal. They published their findings in Human Sexual Response (1966) and devised new methods of treating sexual dysfunction in Human Sexual Inadequacy (1970). Sexology is an interdisciplinary science that focuses on diverse aspects of human sexual behavior and sexuality.
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Who was William H. Masters' main research partner?
William H. Masters' main research partner was Virginia E. Johnson. Johnson began working with Masters as a research associate in 1956 or 1957 and assisted him in sex research. In 1964, they established the Masters & Johnson Institute, where she initially served as a research assistant and later became its co-director in 1973. Together, Masters and Johnson conducted pioneering research on human sexuality and sex therapy. They published their findings in Human Sexual Response (1966) and devised new methods of treating sexual dysfunction in Human Sexual Inadequacy (1970).
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What important research did Masters and his partner do together?
William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson are known for their groundbreaking research on human sexuality. Their work together began when Johnson assisted Masters with sex research in the late 1950s. Together, they established the Masters & Johnson Institute in 1964, where they studied and treated sexual dysfunction.
Their research, summarized in Human Sexual Response (1966), was the first comprehensive study of the physiology and anatomy of human sexual activity under laboratory conditions. They identified four stages of sexual arousal and determined that women are capable of multiple orgasms. In 1970, they published Human Sexual Inadequacy, which described their therapeutic approaches.
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How did their research change people's understanding about human sexuality?
William H. Masters, alongside Virginia E. Johnson, transformed the understanding of human sexuality through direct observation and physiological measurement of sexual activity. Their groundbreaking research, detailed in Human Sexual Response (1966), identified the four stages of sexual arousal—excitement, plateau, orgasmic, and resolution—and documented physiological changes during these stages. They dispelled myths, such as the one surrounding women's capacity for multiple orgasms, and highlighted the persistence of sexual desire into old age. Masters and Johnson's work helped change people’s attitudes toward sex.
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What were some major impacts of William H. Masters' work on society and science?
William H. Masters, with Virginia E. Johnson, significantly impacted society and science through their pioneering research on human sexuality. Their groundbreaking work, detailed in Human Sexual Response (1966), was the first comprehensive study of the physiology and anatomy of human sexual activity under laboratory conditions and identified four distinct stages of sexual arousal.
Their research helped change attitudes toward sex and led to new methods for treating sexual dysfunction, described in Human Sexual Inadequacy (1970). Together, Masters and Johnson founded an institute in 1964 that served couples with sexual dysfunction until 1994.
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William H. Masters (born December 27, 1915, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.—died February 16, 2001, Tucson, Arizona) was an American gynecologist who was a pioneer in the field of human sexuality research and sex therapy. With partner Virginia E. Johnson, Masters conducted groundbreaking research on sex physiology and in 1964 established the Masters & Johnson Institute (originally the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation), a clinic for couples who suffered from sexual dysfunction. (See also Masters and Johnson.)
Masters was born into an affluent Cleveland family. He attended the Lawrenceville School, an elite college preparatory academy in New Jersey. In 1938, after completing a degree at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Masters studied at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. There he was mentored by American anatomist and embryologist George Washington Corner and became interested in human reproduction. Masters served briefly in the U.S. Navy in 1942. The following year he finished a degree in medicine and took an internship in obstetrics and gynecology at the St. Louis Maternity Hospital and at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, where he also later served his residencies. He also studied pathology at the Washington University School of Medicine and internal medicine at Barnes Hospital. In 1947 he accepted a faculty position at Washington University.
Masters’s early research centred on sexual dysfunction, primarily hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women, gynecologic surgery, and infertility. He began to investigate human sexuality and sex physiology in 1954, when his research plan was approved by the Washington University chancellor and board of trustees. His first research subjects were prostitutes, whom he interviewed and observed at work. Although the initial study population was too skewed to provide Masters with data that could be published, the research helped lay the foundation for the methodologies that he would later employ. In 1956–57 he hired Johnson, who initially assisted with secretarial duties. She later helped him recruit a more-balanced study population, with male and female volunteers, including university students and employees. Though she had no medical background, Masters trained her in laboratory research and basic anatomy and physiology and made her an equal partner in the work. The two were married in 1971.
Masters and Johnson interviewed volunteers about their sexual histories and observed them performing a vast range of sexual acts, alone or with partners. The researchers used tools such as electrocardiography and electroencephalography to record physiological changes associated with sexual arousal. They published their findings in Human Sexual Response (1966). Although the book was written in a clinical manner and was intended mainly for medical professionals, it became a best seller. With the information they garnered from their research, Masters and Johnson devised new methods of treating sexual dysfunction. Their therapeutic approaches were unveiled in Human Sexual Inadequacy (1970).
As they continued their work, Masters and Johnson published other books, including the well-received The Pleasure Bond (1974; with Robert J. Levin). In Homosexuality in Perspective (1979), they claimed, to much controversy, that homosexuals could be converted to heterosexuality. Crisis: Heterosexual Behavior in the Age of AIDS (1988; with Kolodny), another controversial work, was widely discredited for inaccuracies in its portrayal of HIV/AIDS. Masters and Johnson divorced in 1993, and he closed the institute in 1994, retiring that year.