YOU wouldn’t usually rate someone’s attractiveness based on their penis size.
But with dating app use and sexting rife, it’s not rare that you’ll see certain parts of your partner before actually meeting them in person.
“Penises which were wider, longer, and moderately hairy were perceived more positively,” researchers said
A 2022 study published in the journal Sexuality & Culture sought to examine what kind of information you might glean from a picture of a man’s genitals – and what length, girth and pubic hair style people found most attractive.
Researchers asked 106 students at Texas A&M University-Commerce to rate 24 pictures of penises categorised by girth, length, and amount of pubic hair.
Most participants – 80 per cent of them – were women and straight.
Aside from rating what kinds of todgers they found most attractive, participants were also asked to say what kind of personality characteristics they obtained from looking at each appendage, based on the length, girth and pubic hair choices.
They were asked whether they thought men were sexually active, good in bed, extroverted, dependable, anxious, open to new experiences and whether they were more likely to be a ‘pleaser’ or ‘pillow princess’ in bed.
The 24 pictures of penises were collected from publicly available Reddit forums, where users shared pictures of their genitals.
“There were significant differences between how participants perceived penises with low-girth and high-girth,” the research team wrote.
Participants generally rated girthier penises as more attractive.
They perceived men with slimmer genitals as more neurotic, while the owners of thicker members were thought to be more extroverted, open to new experiences, sexually active and better in bed.
They were also deemed to have had more sexual partners and to be ‘pleasers’ in bed, meaning they took an active role in pleasuring their partner.
As for length, men with short penises were perceived as more neurotic than those with medium or long penises.
Meanwhile, participants said they thought men with long penises were more attractive, extroverted, conscientious, better in bed and pleasers.
Researchers showed three different levels of pubic grooming: untrimmed, trimmed and no hair at all.
Participants rated trimmed pubic hair as most attractive.
They thought men with long pubic hair might be less outgoing and open to new experiences and that they’d had fewer sexual partners.
Those with trimmed pubic hair were thought to be more sexually active, better in bed and pleasers.
“While they were perceived to be more conscientious than non-trimmed pubic hair, they did not significantly differ from fully shaved pubic hair,” researchers noted.
“Penises which were wider, longer, and moderately hairy were perceived more positively in terms of personality and sexual appeal,” they concluded.
“This research demonstrates that genital appearance may contribute to socially shared implicit theories about people, regardless if these impressions reflect the true personality of the person being assess.”