| Male Behaviour Pre-programmed by Evolution |
| Men worry more about penile
size than women Women are much more interested in a man’s personality and looks than the size of his penis, but men can experience real anxiety even if they are average sized, according to a research review published in the June issue of the urology journal BJU International. Science Blog 31 May 2007 Dr Kevan Wylie from the Porterbrook Clinic and Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK, reports that while men often have a better body image, genital image and sexual confidence if they have a large penis, women don’t necessarily feel that bigger is better. He teamed up with Mr Ian Eardley from St James’ Hospital in Leeds to bring together the findings of more than 50 international research projects into penile size and small penis syndrome carried out since 1942. By drawing together the results of 12 studies that measured the penises of 11,531 men, they discovered that average erect penises ranged from 14-16cms (5.5 to 6.2 inches) in length and 12-13cm (4.7 to 5.1 inches) in girth. Wylie and Eardley also looked at the bizarre practices used by men worldwide to enhance the size of their penis, including the Topinama of Brazil, who encourage poisonous snakes to bite their penises to enlarge them for six months! They report that Indian Sadhus men are known to use weights to increase the length of their penis and Dayak men in Borneo pierce the glans of their penis and insert items into the holes to stimulate their partner. Other key findings of the review include: * A survey of over 50,000 heterosexual men and women found that 66 per cent of men said their penis was average sized, 22 per cent said large and 12 per cent said small. 85 per cent of women were satisfied with their partner’s penile size, but only 55 per cent of men were satisfied. * Two studies reported that 90 per cent of women prefer a wide penis to a long one. Other studies pointed out that the issue of male attractiveness was complex, but that penile size was not the most important factor for women. * Small penis syndrome is much more common in men with normal sized penises than those with a small micropenis with a flaccid length of less than 7cm (2.7 inches). * One study found that 63 per cent of men complaining of small penises said their anxieties started with childhood comparisons and 37 per cent blamed erotic images viewed in their teenage years. None of the men studied actually had a micropenis. * Another report based on data collected by Kinsey in the 1940s reported that, on average, homosexual men had larger penises than heterosexual men. The report authors suggest that exposure to male reproductive hormones in the womb may be one explanation. * Individual research studies have also suggested that penis size is smaller in studies focussing on older men, but Wylie and Eardley found no overall differences when they collated the results of various studies. * The review also provided little evidence of racial differences, with the exception of one Korean study where the men had smaller than average-sized penises. The authors suggest this area needs further investigation. * Evidence on the effectiveness of vacuum devices, penile extenders and traction devices was found to be limited, but the authors noted that patients may experience psychological benefits from some of them. * The review also showed that the results of surgery are poorly documented and significant complications can ensue. “It is very common for men to worry about the size of their penis and it is important that these concerns aren’t dismissed as this can heighten concerns and anxieties” says Dr Wylie. “It is helpful to normalise the situation and provide as much accurate information as possible, as many men either lack any information or have been misinformed. “This extensive review aims to provide clinicians with an overarching summary of the many research projects that have been carried out into penile size and small penis syndrome.” Clinicians who are presented with a man with small penis syndrome need to consider a number of treatment approaches. “The initial approach should be a thorough urological, psychosexual, psychological and psychiatric assessment, possibly with more than one clinician involved” say the authors. “Conservative approaches to therapy, based on education and self-awareness, as well as short-term structured psychotherapies, are often successful.” They authors are, however, very cautious when it comes to treating a psychological condition like small penis syndrome with gadgets or surgery. “There is poorly documented evidence to support the use of penile extenders, and while information is starting to emerge on the success of some surgical techniques, this is not backed up by data on patients’ satisfaction with such procedures” stresses Dr Wylie. Blackwell Publishing [1] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source URL: http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/men-worry-more-about-penile-size-women-13347.html Links: [1] http://www.blackwellpublishing.com |
| Sex cues ruin men's ability
to make decisions A glimpse of an alluring woman is all it takes to ruin a man's decision-making skills and the more testosterone coursing through his veins, the worse the problem gets, researchers claim today. Ian Sample, science correspondent Wednesday April 19, 2006 Guardian The finding is unwelcome confirmation that those most likely to be in a position of power are most susceptible to the subtle influences of the opposite sex. Bram van den Bergh and Siegfried Dewitte at the University of Leuven in Belgium set 44 student volunteers aged 18 to 28 a financial game to test how they reacted to fair play. The game required the students to split into pairs and before half of the games, one of each pair was shown images of a sexy woman or asked to rate how much they liked a variety of lingerie. The results showed that men exposed to what the researchers call "sexual cues" accepted unfair play far more than men who were not. The researchers later ranked the men according to their testosterone levels and found that the more testosterone a man had the worse he fared in the tests, they report in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B. "We all think we are rational beings, but our research suggests ... that people with high testosterone levels are very vulnerable to sexual cues. If there are no cues around, they behave normally, but if they see sexual images they become impulsive," said Dr Dewitte. "It's a tendency, but these people are not powerless to fight it. Hormone levels are one thing, but we can learn to deal with it." Testosterone levels were gauged by measuring the ratio of the index finger to the ring finger. A low value, suggesting a ring finger longer than the index finger, is a result of high testosterone and is found more commonly in men than women. The researchers are conducting tests to search for a similar effect in women, but have so far failed to find a visual stimulus that alters their decision-making behaviour. |
| Monkeys go ape for a little
allure There is nothing they enjoy more than sitting in front of the TV, watching celebrities at play and images of well-formed female bottoms. Human males, of course, are keen on it, too Robin McKie, science
editor |
| Scientists learn how to stop
males straying Scientists say they have found how to change promiscuous wayward males into attentive home-loving husbands Nature Magazine June 2004 Nature magazine reports that the breakthrough has been achieved with voles but has implications for humans. By altering one gen in the brain hormone chemistry, scientists made a promiscuous meadow vole faithful - just like its prairie vole cousin. After mating, male prairie voles "fall in love", choosing to stick close to their chosen one, guard her jealously and help her raise their young. Closely related meadow voles, on the other hand, mate with several females and pay little attention to their babies. A hormone called vasopressin encourages pair-bonding in prairie voles. Scientists noticed that meadow voles have fewer vasopressin receptors and decided to try giving them more. The results were remarkable. The meadow voles changed their ways and suddenly fixed on one female, choosing to mate with only her - even when other females tried to tempt them. "We think what happens is when the voles mate, vasopressin activates the reward centre, and it really makes the animals pay attention to who they are mating with," co-author Larry Young, from Emory University, Georgia, told BBC News Online. "It makes the voles think: "when I'm with this partner I feel good". And from then on, they want to spend their time with that particular partner." The strings of human behaviour might be pulled by similar hormones and similar pathways. "We know that vasopressin is released when humans have sex," said Professor Young. "Sex is probably involved in maintaining the bond between humans and vasopressin may play a role in that." |
| Women addle men's maths Pretty faces make men reach for money 10 December 2003 HELEN PEARSON Pretty ladies make men want wealth with which to impress, according to a new study - even if they'll be worse off in the long run. Psychologists Margo Wilson and Martin Daly at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, asked students whether they would prefer, say, $19 tomorrow or $25 next week. They then showed them the faces of ladies whose attractiveness was ranked on the website 'How Hot Am I?'. After eyeballing pictures of pretty women, men were more likely to want immediate monetary gratification than to wait for a bigger bonus. Women's calculations, on the other hand, were unaffected by male eye candy, as were men's after ogling plainer women or fancy cars1. With ladies fresh in their minds, men want money immediately because they might use it to impress and woo them, Wilson suggests. Such a trait might have been evolutionarily advantageous: men with more to offer might have been better able to get the girl. The study suggests that the brain areas triggered by a cute face are linked to those that calculate rewards, Wilson says. She next plans to study whether men also covet other resources to wow the ladies, such as food or gifts, and whether older or married men are immune to the women's effect. The results also support the idea that advertisements featuring attractive women seduce men into parting with their money, Wilson adds. "But I guess the marketing people already knew that," she says. References Wilson, M. & Daly, M. Do pretty women inspire men to discount the future? Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, published online, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0134 (2003). |Article| Originally from: www.nature.com/nsu/031208/031208-8.html |