A recent study has settled the ongoing debate about whether women find men with larger penises more attractive.
Despite some claims that size is irrelevant, the persistent discussions on the subject suggest otherwise.
Researchers at the University of Western Australia set out to determine if the concept of ‘big d*ck energy’ holds any truth.
The study, published in PLOS Biology, explored the impact of penis size on a man’s attractiveness to women.
Led by Dr. Upama Aich, the team presented 600 men and 200 women with images of AI-generated male figures that varied in penis size.
Beyond attractiveness, the researchers also investigated whether penis size might deter other males from engaging in confrontations.
In essence, men with larger penises might be perceived by others as having superior ‘fighting ability,’ attributed to potentially higher testosterone levels.
The researchers tested the hypothesis that these characteristics influence perceived attractiveness and fighting capability in a comprehensive study on penis size.
The findings revealed that both sexes preferred taller men with V-shaped bodies and larger penises.
“In both surveys, male participants rated rivals with a larger penis as more sexually competitive and physically threatening,” explained the study’s authors.
“To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that males assess rivals’ fighting ability and attractiveness to females based partly on a rival’s penis size.”
“Our findings suggest that female choice and male-male competition have jointly favoured larger penis size, greater height, and more V-shaped bodies in men.”
Besides women favoring men with larger penises, the study also found that women preferred men who were not the shortest and had a stronger shoulder-to-hip ratio.
In terms of ‘fighting ability,’ women perceived men with larger penises as more competent in this regard as well.
Dr. Aich noted: “Men rated rivals with larger penises as more physically threatening and sexually competitive.”
Co-author Michael D Jennions added: “While the human penis functions primarily to transfer sperm, our result suggests its unusual large size evolved as a sexual ornament to attract females rather than purely as a badge of status to scare males, although it does both.”
The debate has finally been addressed.