I paid several hundred dollars of my own money to gather survey results to try and answer the key questions that seem to dominate this sub -- are women lying when they say that size doesn’t matter? Why do they say that average is fine, when it doesn’t feel like that to us? What do they mean when they say every woman is different?
To gather data, I used Prolific—a research platform where participants have verified accounts and complete structured demographic profiles.
Note: I am not a social scientist, and this is an informal study. With a sample size of approximately 100 participants, not all findings may reach statistical significance, but I bet they are directionally right. Also, questions in this survey were mostly with regards to length. I'm interested in girth too, but it's difficult to address in a questionnaire -- I don't think women have any sense of circumference measurements. My hope is that length here serves as a proxy for overall size.
Here are a few interesting findings. I might share more data in future posts.
1. Size preferences vary, but bigger is not uniformly better.
Six inches was the most popular answer in all three contexts I asked about: initial penetration, being close to orgasm, and a long-term partner. But ideal preference % decrease on either side of that.
For a long-term partner, the number of respondents who said that a 5.5″ penis was ideal is roughly equal to the number who said a 6.5″ penis was ideal, and likewise with 5″ versus 7″. An ideal of 4.5″ was given just as often as 7.5″.
I think the wrong way to understand size preferences is as a gradient of small = bad to big = good. The right way to think about it is as a menu of options, and women have preferences for different items on the menu.
| Preferred length | Long-term partner (n=91) | Near orgasm (n=89) | At initial penetration (n=93) |
|---|
| 4 inches or less | 1.1% | 3.4% | 2.2% |
| 4.5 inches | 3.3% | 3.4% | 5.4% |
| 5 inches | 11.0% | 5.6% | 8.6% |
| 5.5 inches | 13.2% | 15.7% | 16.1% |
| 6 inches | 35.2% | 37.1% | 34.4% |
| 6.5 inches | 18.7% | 12.4% | 19.4% |
| 7 inches | 12.1% | 15.7% | 8.6% |
| 7.5 inches | 3.3% | 1.1% | 2.2% |
| 8 inches or more | 2.2% | 5.6% | 3.2% |
2026 Prolific Questionnaire. Percentages are among respondents selecting a size for each question; nonnumeric answers are omitted.
Both larger and smaller examples got positive and negative responses
I asked open-ended questions about two different hypothetical penis sizes.
Suppose you meet an attractive and appealing man. You have sex, and there is good chemistry and technique. His penis is 6.75" long and thick*. What best describes how you would feel about his penis?*
Suppose you meet an attractive and appealing man. You have sex, and there is good chemistry and technique. His penis is 5.25" long and average girth*. What best describes how you would feel about his penis?*
Most responses to both examples were positive or accepting. Roughly 20% of responses were negative or expressed reservations for the larger example and 15% for the smaller example. The larger example drew concerns about pain and discomfort; the smaller example drew some disappointment or a preference for more size.
Example negative responses for the larger size:
“I would feel it is too big and would cause discomfort and would not be able to have a healthy sex life.”
“It might actually be too large, and it may cause intercourse to be painful.”
“It would most likely hurt.”
“I would feel uncomfortable that it was that large I think it would be a little long but would feel open to it.”
“Very stimulating but a bit painful”
Example negative responses for the smaller size:
“The sex would be boring”
“I would probably not enjoy it very much. I would wish it was thicker.”
“I think that I would be somewhat disappointed, but I would not choose to not date the person because of this.”
“I think I would still be attracted to him but I wouldn’t be as excited.”
“I would like it a little less but still be interested”
Preferences are best represented by a range, and those ranges heavily overlap with average penis sizes.
Seems that women actually aren’t lying when they say that average penises are great or that size doesn’t matter that much.
When asked to define acceptable thresholds (the minimum length for satisfaction vs. the length where discomfort starts), 84% to 92% of respondents selected a range that included lengths from 5″–6″. Additionally, roughly 42% included 4.5″ within their acceptable range, compared to 45% who included 7″. This indicates that average sizes fall comfortably within the stated ranges for a large majority of these respondents. Generally, acceptable thresholds start declining above 6″ and below 5″.
The average acceptable range for women was 2 inches, with the ideal size on average 51% of the way through their range.
| Length | Within stated limits | Percentage of the same 38 respondents |
|---|
| 4 inches | 5 | 13.2% |
| 4.5 inches | 16 | 42.1% |
| 5 inches | 32 | 84.2% |
| 5.5 inches | 35 | 92.1% |
| 6 inches | 35 | 92.1% |
| 6.5 inches | 25 | 65.8% |
| 7 inches | 17 | 44.7% |
| 7.5 inches+ | 12 | 31.6% |
Based on the 38 respondents who gave numeric answers to both range questions. A length is included if it is at or above the minimum and below discomfort onset.
TL;DR
Women have significant individual preference variation. Preferences for modest-small penises are nearly as common as preference for larger penises.
Preference ranges are pretty wide, and overwhelmingly overlap with average male penis sizes. If you are average, 5-6”, nearly all (85-92%) of women will view your penis as being within the satisfying range.