Penis size may really matter, sex study finds
New research conducted by King’s College London examined 12 couples
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Does size matter? It’s an age-old question, one that is typically discussed anecdotally – up until now.
A new scientific study from King’s College London has examined the significance of penis size when it comes to sexual pleasure.
Researchers recruited 12 sexually active heterosexual couples for the study, giving the male partners a series of differently sized silicon rings that could be placed around the base of the erect penis so as to artificially reduce the depth of penetration.
The rings were designed either to make no difference to penetration or to reduce it by either an inch, 1.5 inches, or two inches.
Couples were told to have sex with each ring either three, four or five times.
The female partner was not told which ring was being used and had to rate each encounter on a scale from 0 to 100 in terms of overall sexual pleasure, sexual pleasure from intercourse, and pleasure from an emotional connection to her partner.
The study found that, on average, reducing the depth of penetration led to a statistically significant 18 per cent reduction of overall sexual pleasure with an average 15 per cent reduction in length of the penis.
The study’s lead author, David Veale, said: “We started with the premise that depth of penetration would not matter to most women. We found that reducing the depth of penetration by an inch led to a statistically meaningful drop in the amount of pleasure experienced.
“The longer the erect penis, the less likely the rings had an impact on sexual pleasure. There was, however, a range of individual responses with a minority of women reporting that reducing the depth of penetration was more pleasurable on some occasions.”
Veale said that the study could provide significant insights for men experiencing penile shortening due to various health issues.
“We need to establish effective interventions so that these men do not seek non-evidence-based solutions like pills and lotions,” he said.
However, he noted that the findings should not “be misinterpreted as meaning that increasing penile length in a normal man will increase sexual pleasure in women”.
“That would be a completely different study,” he added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments