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Masochism / masochist

Masochism is the derivation of pleasure from receiving pain or humiliation.[1][2]

Sources: grade A×3, grade B×2, grade C×11, grade D×1. Last checked 8 October 2026. What the grades mean

The word masochism comes from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose novels explored his masochistic fantasies of receiving pain and degradation.[3] The psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing introduced the term into clinical use.[4] In his conception, pain and physical violence were not essential, and he defined masochism entirely in terms of control.[5]

Sadomasochism forms a component of BDSM, an umbrella term that also covers bondage and discipline and dominance and submission.[6] Within consensual BDSM, it may involve giving or receiving pain, intense sensation or humiliation for pleasure, although pain is not involved in all BDSM activities.[7][6] Participants may identify as sadistic, masochistic or switch.[6]

Sigmund Freud combined sadism and masochism into a single entity called sadomasochism, while Gilles Deleuze argued that this pairing was the result of careless reasoning.[8] Havelock Ellis saw the two as complementary emotional states and believed the pain was generally meant to be given or received in love, not in abuse.[9] Contemporary psychology continues to identify sadism and masochism separately.[10]

Romana Byrne suggests these practices can be seen as 'aesthetic sexuality', pursued through choice and deliberation for goals tied to style, pleasure and identity.[11] On 18 June 2018 the World Health Organization removed sadomasochism, along with fetishism and transvestic fetishism, as a psychiatric diagnosis.[12] DSM-5 treats consensual adult kinky interests as non-pathological, reserving diagnoses for nonconsensual or harmful behaviours.[13]

Sources

  1. Source grade CWells, John (3 April 2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0 . (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  2. Source grade CMurray, Thomas Edward; Murrell, Thomas R. (1989). The Language of Sadomasochism: A Glossary and Linguistic Analysis . Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 7– 8. ISBN 978-0-313-26481-8 . (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  3. Source grade DHyde, J. S., & DeLamater, J. D. (1999). Understanding human sexuality. McGraw-Hill, Inc. 432–435 (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  4. Source grade BDetails describing the development of the theoretical construct "Perversion" by Krafft-Ebing and his relation of these terms. (See Andrea Beckmann, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture , 8(2) (2001) 66–95 online under Deconstructing Myths Archived 19 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine albany.edu (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  5. Source grade Cvon Krafft-Ebing, Richard (1886). "Masochis" . Psychopathia Sexualis . New York, Rebman. p. 131. [The masochist] is controlled by the idea of being completely and unconditionally subject to the will of a person of the opposite sex; of being treated by this person as by a master, humiliated and abused. This idea is coloured by lustful feeling; the masochist lives in fancies, in which he creates sit archive.org (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  6. Source grade ADe Neef, Nele; Coppens, Violette; Huys, Wim; Morrens, Manuel (2019). "Bondage-Discipline, Dominance-Submission and Sadomasochism (BDSM) From an Integrative Biopsychosocial Perspective: A Systematic Review" . Sexual Medicine . 7 (2): 129– 144. doi : 10.1016/j.esxm.2019.02.002 . PMC 6525106 . PMID 30956128 . ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  7. Source grade ADe Neef, Nele; Coppens, Violette; Huys, Wim; Morrens, Manuel (2019). "Bondage-Discipline, Dominance-Submission and Sadomasochism (BDSM) From an Integrative Biopsychosocial Perspective: A Systematic Review" . Sexual Medicine . 7 (2): 129– 144. doi : 10.1016/j.esxm.2019.02.002 . PMC 6525106 . PMID 30956128 . ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; Schultheiss, D.; Truss, M. C. (2015). Cock and Ball Torture – das gefährliche Spiel mit der Lust . 61. Kongress der Nordrhein-Westfälischen Gesellschaft für Urologie (in German). egms.de (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  8. Source grade CDeleuze, Gilles (1997) [1967]. "Chapter 3, Are Sade and Masoch Complementary?". Coldness and Cruelty . Zone Books. ISBN 0-942299-55-8 . We are told [by Freud] that some individuals experience pleasure both in inflicting pain and in suffering it. We are told furthermore that the person who enjoys inflicting pain experiences in his innermost being the link that exists between the pleasure and the pa archive.org (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  9. Source grade CEllis, Havelock. Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Analysis of the Sexual Impulse; Love and Pain; The Sexual Impulse in Women . Vol. 3. Project Gutenberg. p. 150. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021 . Retrieved 25 April 2021 . gutenberg.org (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  10. Source grade CDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (PDF) (4 ed.). Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. 1994. p. 525. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2011. A Paraphilia must be distinguished from the nonpathological use of sexual fantasies, behaviors, or objects as a stimulus for sexual excitement in individuals without a paraphilia. Fantasies, behaviors, or objects web.archive.org; Krueger & Kaplan 2001 , p. 393 : "as with many of the paraphilic disorders, these disorders represent a spectrum between sexual behavior that is socially acceptable and nonpathological and behavior that becomes pathological when an individual begins to suffer subjective distress or an impairment in functioning..." (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  11. Source grade CByrne, Romana (2013). Aesthetic Sexuality: A Literary History of Sadomasochism . New York: Bloomsbury . ISBN 978-1-4411-8358-3 . Archived from the original on 31 October 2022 . Retrieved 16 March 2023 . books.google.com (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  12. Source grade AReed, Geoffrey M.; Drescher, Jack; Krueger, Richard B.; Atalla, Elham; Cochran, Susan D.; First, Michael B.; Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy T.; Arango-de Montis, Iván; Parish, Sharon J. (October 2016). "Disorders related to sexuality and gender identity in the ICD-11: revising the ICD-10 classification based on current scientific evidence, best clinical practices, and human rights considerations" . World P ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  13. Source grade CAdmin, Blog. "NCSF Blog" . ncsfreedom.org . Archived from the original on 22 April 2016 . Retrieved 5 April 2016 . web.archive.org (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  14. Source grade BBennett, Theodore (2021). "A Fine Line Between Pleasure and Pain: Would Decriminalising BDSM Permit Nonconsensual Abuse?". Liverpool Law Review . 42 : 161– 183. doi : 10.1007/s10991-020-09268-7 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Sadomasochism)
  15. Source grade CDossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book , Greenery Press (CA) 2002, ISBN 978-1-890159-36-8 (via Wikipedia: BDSM)
  16. Source grade CDossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book , page 72, Greenery Press (CA) 2002, ISBN 978-1-890159-36-8 (via Wikipedia: BDSM)
  17. Source grade CWiseman, Jay (1998). SM 101: A Realistic Introduction . California: Greenery Press. ISBN 978-0-9639763-8-3 .; Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy: The New Topping Book , page 71, Greenery Press (CA) 2002 (via Wikipedia: BDSM)

Grades: A systematic review or official classification, B peer-reviewed study, C expert or community organisation, D practice from the community without research. How we grade sources.

Every claim was checked against its source before publication. Last checked 8 October 2026.