Penis size and sports cars: Psychological study shows there’s a relationship

Men who bet on sports cars are insecure about the size of their penis. A new research by theUniversity College London (UCL), according to which there is a correlation between owning a flashy vehicle and believing that one’s genitals are smaller than average. In other words: the typically male desire to flaunt fast cars would demonstrate a low level of self-confidence and serve to compensate for insecurity about the size of one’s penis.

How the study was performed

Preliminarily published on PsyAr Xiv, the new study, led by Professor Daniel C. Richardson’s team of Department of Experimental Psychology, aimed to investigate whether there really was a link between owning a sports car and perceived penis size. Psychologists recruited 200 men Of between the ages of 18 and 74 to complete an online test and their perception of penis size relative to others was willfully manipulated. They have been fed false information, claiming that the average size was larger than it actually is and leading them to believe that their penis is sometimes smaller and sometimes larger than the average.

Participants were shown a sentence for an interval of seven seconds, before this screen was replaced by a product image. They then had to move a slider to indicate how much they wanted to buy that product, which could be an everyday item or a luxury item. Finally, another statement appeared on the screen and the participants had to say whether it was the same or different from the one shown in the first screen.

Participants were also told that these claims constituted fact and that the test aimed to investigate “how people remember facts while purchasing products.” However, the statements were not always factual. One of the claims falsely reported the average erect penis size of other men: some participants were told it was 7.1 inches (18cm), while others were told it was 4 inches (10cm). The real average is actually 5.1 inches (13 cm), but those who were told the value was lower felt “relatively better” about themselves as they completed the task. However, those who were told that the value was higher were intentionally led to believe that their genitalia were smaller than average. Participants were always shown an image of a sports car between the two statements about penis size, with a request to express their desire to purchase it.

When the team analyzed the results, they saw that the men over 30 who felt their penis size was below average were more likely to want to buy the sports car. Furthermore, men who were led to believe they had larger-than-average penises tended to show a decreasing interest in luxury vehicles as the respondents’ age increased. This was not found in the other group, where men continued to like them regardless of their age, suggesting a link with their self-esteem.

What emerged according to the authors

“The connection between driving a fast sports car and have a small penis it’s a widespread cultural trope discussed by academics, from Freudian analysts to evolutionary theorists,’ explains Professor Richardson, lead author of the study. “For the first time, we prove that it is founded on a psychological truth. We found that experimentally manipulating men, particularly older men, into believing they had a relatively small penis led them to increase their desire for luxury sports cars.

While this study has yet to undergo review, the authors also say their findings “raise intriguing questions for future research. Maybe there really is a specific link between cars and penises in the male psyche.’

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