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. 2023;27(1):1-18.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-022-10000-y. Epub 2022 Aug 4.

Personality and Sexual Perceptions of Penises: Digital Impression Formation

Thomas R Brooks  1 , Stephen Reysen  2
Affiliations

Personality and Sexual Perceptions of Penises: Digital Impression Formation

Thomas R Brooks et al. Sex Cult. 2023.

Abstract

Dating app users are likely to experience a high frequency of viewing the sexually explicit material of potential partners prior to a physical meeting. The present study aimed to investigate what information is inferred from a picture of a penis at zero-acquaintance. Past research in impression formation at zero-acquaintance has demonstrated a stability with regard to personality and trait perceptions of faces. Utilizing 106 participants, our study extends this paradigm by testing the hypothesis that penis prototypicality would be associated with attractiveness, as well as explore the personality and sexual perceptions of penises along the dimensions of girth, length, and amount of pubic hair. The hypotheses were confirmed and the analysis of penis dimensions revealed strong results. Penises which were wider, longer, and moderately hairy were perceived more positively in terms of personality and sexual appeal. Shorter and narrower penises were perceived as more neurotic. The results demonstrate the function of impression formation within the digital sexual landscape with regard to sexually explicit material.

Keywords: Digital; Penis; Perception; Sexting; Zero acquaintance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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