How Big Should My Penis Be?
Let’s talk about the simple anatomy of the penis; and let’s begin this talk with a question:
What do you think is the length of the average human’s erect penis?
Hmm?
Do you know the answer?
Most people, apparently want to know the answer to this question, because a very similar question, How big should my penis be? Is one of the most frequently posed questions on Google. And despite whatever preconceived notions you have about men’s or women’s beliefs about the length of the penis; most men and women (82%) answer this question correctly, saying the average length of an erect penis is somewhere between 4 and 6 inches in length (Lucas, Roberts, Nylander & Higdon, 2016)
For the newborn, his penis is about 1.3 inches in length; the greatest growth spurt for the penis occurs between 10 and 13 years of age; and the penis is typically done growing by age 16.
For the adult, on average, his flaccid (non-erect) penis is about 3.6 inches in length; and his erect penis is about 5.2 inches erect (Veale et al., 2015).
Seventy-five percent of erect penises are between 4.3 and 5.9 inches in length. Ten percent of men have erect penises less than 4.3 inches in length and 15 percent of men have erect penises greater than 5.9 inches in length.
A Google search reveals the size of a man’s erect penis is related to his height, weight, foot size, hand size, finger size, race, and geographical locale. But before you go believing in any of these relationships; you may want to know, more times than not, the studies reporting these relationships depend upon their participants self-reporting the size of their erect penises (McGreal, 2012).
Personally, I believe a man when he shares most things about himself; but him reporting the size of his penis, isn’t one of them. 😊
Studies using healthcare professionals to measure participants penis sizes find NO consistent or strong relationships between the size of a man’s erect penis and his height, weight, foot size, hand size, finger size, race, or geographical locale. In fact, even knowing the length of a penis when it is flaccid, isn’t enough information to reliably predict the length of that penis when it is erect.
Repeat: Studies using objective measures of penis size find NO consistent or strong relationships between the size of a man’s erect penis and his height, weight, foot size, hand size, finger size, race, or geographical locale.
What’s all this mean? No matter shoe size, race, height or any other demographic, the average length of an adult human’s erect penis is about 5 and a quarter inches in length — plus or minus half of an inch. Most people already know this information but are fooled into thinking they do not.
References
Lucas, D. R., Roberts, C., Nylander, G., & Higdon, M. (2016). Do Americans know more about sex today than they did 25 years ago? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, Dallas, Texas.
McGreal, S. A. (2012). The pseudoscience of race differences in penis size. Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unique-everybody-else/201210/the-pseudoscience-race-differences-in-penis-size.
Veale, D., Miles, S., Bramley, S., Muir, G. & Hodsoll, J. (2015). Am I normal? A systematic review and construction of nomograms for flaccid and erect penis length and circumference in up to 15,521 men. British Journal of Urology International, 115, 978–986.
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Don Lucas is a Professor of Psychology and head of the Psychology Department at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio Texas. He loves psychology, teaching, and research.
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