Science has spoken guys: penis size matters – at least to women who are deciding if they want to have sex with you.
Using data from a large study of Italian
men, researchers created 343 computer-generated male figures varying in
(flaccid) penis size, as well as in height and shoulder-to-hip ratio.
Qualities such as facial attractiveness
and hair were deliberately omitted from the graphics and a group of 105
young Australian women were asked to rate each image on sexual
attractiveness.
While narrow hips and broad shoulders
were rated as attractive, larger penis sizes were strongly linked to
high attractiveness scores.
Published in the Proceedings of National
Academy of Science (PNAS) journal, the study was led by University of
Ottowa researcher Brian Mautz.
Dr Mautz concluded: ‘We found that
flaccid penis size had a significant influence on male attractiveness.
Males with a larger penis were rated relatively more attractive.’
The study was inspired by Dr Mautz’s
observation that the human penis is significantly longer than it needs
to be to perform its primary biological role, i.e. to reproduce.
As The Independent puts it, the
evolution in the size of penises ‘is in fact the result of many
generations of prehistoric women choosing well-endowed men.’
Dr Mautz told the newspaper: ‘Our
results show that present-day females rate larger penises as more
attractive, but it is hard to infer anything much beyond that. Part of
the reason is because of clothing – it does complicate the situation.’
Strangely, the study found
attractiveness increased quickly until flaccid penises reached 7.6cm
(approximately 3 inches), slowing down thereafter.
Science Mag summarises the reason for this as being:
Penis size isn’t the only thing that
matters. It interacts with other traits, and its effect depends on
whether those other traits are already attractive to begin with. If one
of the model men was tall and had a masculine, V-shaped torso with broad
shoulders and narrower hips, for example, he was considered more
attractive than his shorter, stockier counterparts, regardless of penis
size.
The not-so-surprising findings come
after an earlier study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, which
concluded larger penises are better equipped to provide vaginal orgasms
through penetrative sex (as opposed to clitoral orgasms).
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