Most guys, at some point in the height of puberty or a crisis of sexual arousal, have masturbated in a weird place. But for the most part, people try to avoid doing it in public.

So why do we keep hearing stories about guys jerking off on planes?

It happens shockingly often. In the past week, two stories have gone viral about men trying to join the mile high club all on their own. In one, a 20-year-old Malaysian man stripped completely naked while watching porn on his laptop on a crowded plane; in the other, passengers caught a man in a business suit going to town on himself under a blanket.

A video shared on LiveLeak appeared to show a man in a suit masturbating on an airplane. LiveLeak via Daily Mail

These events aren't isolated. In July of last year, a social media manager organized a boycott of American Airlines after suffering a "horrifying" flight next to a masturbating passenger — and the list goes on.

Masturbating in public is gross (and illegal). So why the hell do guys do it?

People who masturbate in public may experience exhibitionistic disorder, a form of paraphilia in which an individual is inclined to expose their genitals to others. For some guys — like comedian Louis C.K. alluded to in his apology published in the New York Times — the urge may stem from a desire for power and control.

We don't know precisely what motivated the airplane passengers in the above stories, but experts explained a few reasons why men may engage in this type of behavior.

Dr. Tashna Felix, a licensed psychotherapist who works with sexual offenders and people exhibiting maladjusted sexual behaviors, told MensHealth.com that public masturbators are often looking for attention, and may even think what they're doing is sexy.

"They're looking for some kind of positive attention, or even some kind of acknowledgement that someone has seen it," Felix said. "People who are like this often have a distorted kind of thinking when other people are seeing them. They think, 'Oh, they'll really like this,' and then they're shocked when the reaction is negative." (In other cases, the perpetrators may be purposefully looking to shock people, according to The Cut.)

"People who are like this often have a distorted kind of thinking."

Still, Felix said the two recent cases have some significant differences. The 20-year-old who stripped completely naked, she said, would probably have her "looking into his other mental health concerns."

Lawrence Siegel, a clinical sexologist who also works with clients exhibiting these kinds of behavior, said it's possible that someone who masturbates on an airplane is looking for a quick thrill.

"For both men and women, there is a significant element of 'getting away with something' that underlies the behavior," Siegel told MensHealth.com.

"For both men and women, there is a significant element of 'getting away with something.'"

Felix said many of her clients who masturbate in inappropriate places have very high sex drives, and "a lot of fantasies." If they see something or someone that slightly arouses them, they may become compelled to masturbate, because they may "not be able to control their sex drive and fantasies."

Guys, we encourage you to save your one-man showings of Snakes on a Plane for the bedroom, or at least somewhere private. It's not just illegal, but we can also promise you nobody else wants to see it.

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