Publications
Partners
- Are males with a love of flashy sports cars overcompensating for something?
- According to one study, they could be.
- Researchers led a group of males to believe they had small penises and then asked them to rate the desirability of sports cars.
- Those who felt they had small penises rated sports cars as more desirable.
You've probably heard people say that a man who flexes his cash by purchasing flashy cars must be "compensating for something" - well, a group of researchers from University College London wanted to put this theory to the test.
In order to do so, they designed an experiment with male participants. The group was given false information about the average penis size, leading members to believe they had a relatively small or large penis compared to others.
They were then asked to rate sports cars in terms of how desirable they found them to be. Those who felt they had small penises rated sports cars as more desirable.
"As men aged past 29, the effect of penis size on desire for sports cars grew stronger," the study notes.
"Is there any truth to the cliché that a man driving an expensive sports car is compensating for his male inadequacy? The psychological literature suggests two hypotheses why they might be linked," it further reads.
READ MORE | Here's what happens to the body during sex
The first theory revolves around sex - that males may use sports cars or luxury goods in the same way a peacock shows off its colourful train to compete for and attract mates.
The other theory points to it being a way of making up for low self-esteem - using luxury goods to increase feelings of self-worth.
In this regard, having a small penis could contribute to low self-esteem, and buying a sports car may be just this thing to compensate for what someone may feel they are lacking.
But is there any truth to this, and how would researchers collect reliable data?
"Self-reported penis size is notoriously unreliable (King, 2021), and even an objective study of penis size and sports car ownership would also be limited to correlational evidence. In this experiment, however, we were able to find a casual psychological link between fast cars and small penises for the first time," the paper reads.
How the study worked
Participants were given random facts and then, with that knowledge, asked to rate different products by desirability. They were then given false information about the average penis size and asked to rate the desirability of sports cars.
The first group (made to believe their penises were smaller than the average size) were told that the average penis measured 18cm (larger than the true average size).
The second group (led to believe they were well endowed compared to the average male) was told that the average penis size was 10cm.
Following this, both groups rated sports cars.
"Our primary hypothesis was that ratings for sports cars would increase when male participants were manipulated to believe that they have relatively small penises."
To make sure that the ratings weren't just affected by the idea of low self-esteem in general, participants were also asked to rate other luxury goods based on manipulated facts that might affect self-esteem.
READ MORE | How does non-surgical vaginal rejuvenation work? A doctor explains
The findings
"We increased our male participants' desire for sports cars when we made them feel they had a relatively small penis. Why cars and why penises? These results raise intriguing questions for future research," the paper states.
