If a woman is deciding if she wants to have sex with you, your penis size may be a determining factor. This is according to a study published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Science (PNAS) journal, which found that women rate men with larger penises as more attractive – sorry guys.
The University of Ottawa researchers used data from a large study of Italian men to create 343 computer-generated male figures varying in (flaccid) penis size, as well as in height and shoulder-to-hip ratio, but features such as facial attractiveness and hair were deliberately omitted from the graphics. The researchers then asked a group of 105 young Australian women to rate each image on sexual attractiveness.
On the whole, the women rated narrow hips and broad shoulders as attractive, but larger penis sizes were the most strongly linked to high attractiveness scores. According to lead researcher Brian Mautz, ‘We found that flaccid penis size had a significant influence on male attractiveness. Males with a larger penis were rated relatively more attractive.’ An observation by Dr Mautz is what inspired the study; the human penis is significantly longer than it needs to be to perform its primary biological role of reproduction.
The Independent surmised that the evolution in the size of penises ‘is in fact the result of many generations of prehistoric women choosing well-endowed men.’ However, Dr Mautz said, ‘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.’
So where does that place the sexual wellbeing of the average British man? According to the study, British men rank 78th out of 113 nationalities in the table of average penis lengths. Republic of Congo men are among those with the largest penises, with an average of 7.1in, British men come in just under the Germans, who are in line with the European average of 5.7in. When you take the other continents out of the picture, at 6.5in Icelanders are the best endowed in Europe and the Irish are the second smallest at 5.03in, with Romanians bringing up the rear at 5.01in.