Photo: weheartit
How much does size matter to you?
By Christine Schoenwald — Written on May 19, 2016
Does penis size matter? Researchers at Dr. Ed (a British online medical site) decided to find out the answer to this age-old question.
For their study, they surveyed 2,121 participants on questions relating to the sexual health and ideals of male genital size. 1,148 of the respondents identified as male and 973 identified as female. They were almost equally divided: 1,055 were American and 1,066 were European (489 of those were located in England).
The first question asked of the participants was regarding what they considered the average penis length to be, and what they personally considered an ideal length.
Women estimated the average penis length to be 18.8 cm (about 5.4 inches), and for men it was only 0.3 cm (less than an inch) greater. Women's perception of the ideal penis length was 15.8 cm (about six inches) whereas men thought the ideal penis was 16.6 cm (about 6.5 inches).
The perceived average penis length and the ideal length differed from country to country. Austrians thought that the ideal penis was 17.6 cm (6.9 in) long, but on the other end of the spectrum, the UK residents thought it was 14.2 cm (5.6 inches).
"One theme was universal among the countries we studied: In each one, the ideal length endorsed by our respondents outpaced perceptions of the typical size, again showing how many people believe that even average genitals may not be big enough," wrote the researchers in the study. "However, the gap between notions of average size and ideal size varied substantially."
The study took a more in-depth look at estimates of penis size from each of the states. The researchers found that there was much variety from state to state as there were in the different European countries.
West Virginia offered the lowest figure, estimating an average length of 12.8 cm (five inches) while Maine averaged length at 16.5 cm (6.5 inches). Although the states differed greatly, there didn't seem to be any clear regional trends.
Obviously, ideas of typical penis size vary greatly all around the world, even within individual countries like the United States. But the question remains: How do men actually feel about the size of their own penises?
For the study, the male participants were asked to state their level of satisfaction with the size of their genitals. Overall, very few men said that they were dissatisfied with their size — only 10.3 percent said they were dissatisfied, and only 1.7 percent said that they were very dissatisfied.
29.5 percent had neutral feelings about their size, being not especially satisfied or dissatisfied. A majority of men were happy with their size — 44.5 percent said that they were satisfied, and an additional 14 percent stated that were very satisfied.
The researchers were also able to chart how men's personal feelings toward their genitals differed by age group.
While 39.4 percent of men aged 18 to 24 reported being satisfied, this increased to 51 percent among men aged 45 and over. The proportion who were very satisfied showed very little change overall, starting at 15.7 percent of those aged 18 to 24 and growing to 16.9 percent of men aged 35 to 44 before slightly declining to 13.5 percent of men aged 45 and over.
Levels of dissatisfaction appeared to decline more significantly with age. 13.1 percent of men aged 18 to 24, but only 7.7 percent of men aged 45+, reported being dissatisfied with their size. Most surprising was that, while three percent of men aged 18 to 24 noted they were very dissatisfied, this dropped to 0 percent of those aged 45 and over.
Do concerns over penis size affect sexual confidence? The study found that when it comes to a belief in their own sexual prowess, a vast majority of men don't seem to be adversely affected by widespread cultural uncertainties about which penis sizes were most desirable.
And as with satisfaction, sexual confidence related to penis size appears to trend upwards as men age.
All images: Dr Ed.com
"Perceptions of penis size have become so distorted in the popular imagination that reality is often ignored and exceeded by exaggerated notions of an ideal size," the study says. "More than that, these beliefs vary substantially between nations and even states — what's considered ideal in one place may not be so in another.
But as we've found, most men continue to show satisfaction with their size, and most women don't consider size to be a crucial issue. At the end of the day, there's much more to satisfying relationships and sexual confidence than this one simple measure."
