The final word on penis size?

Science magazine has what it thinks might be The Final Word on Penis Size? (Question mark theirs.) (In case you were wondering whether the headline referred to your humble blogger: I've written about penises before, and I'll probably write about them again. However, their sizes are not their only notable quality.)

Using data from a large study of Italian men, the researchers created 343 computer-generated male figures that varied in penis size, as well as in height and shoulder-to-hip ratio—traits that other research has linked to attractiveness and reproductive success. Mautz and colleagues turned the figures into short video clips and projected them, life-sized, onto a wall for viewing by 105 women. Each woman watched a random set of 53 figures and rated their attractiveness as potential sexual partners on a scale of 1 to 7.

"The first thing we found was that penis size influences male attractiveness," Mautz says. "There's a couple of caveats to that, and the first is that the relationship isn't a straight line." Rather than the attractiveness rating consistently improving with each jump in penis size, the team found what Mautz calls "an odd kink in the middle." Attractiveness increased quickly until flaccid penis length reached 7.6 centimeters (about 3 inches) and then began to slow down, the team reports online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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