Freud was famously obsessed with penises. So much so, that in his , he expanded his theories of dream interpretation to say that weapons, particularly guns, were a phallic symbol. Now, researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have, for the first time, tested the hypothesis – and the assumption long-held in popular culture – that men who are dissatisfied with the size of their penis are more likely to own a gun.
“Although the association between penis size and personal gun ownership has been a persistent topic in popular culture, it has escaped any direct empirical analysis,” said the researchers. “The primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, stated that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises would be more likely to personally own guns.” The researchers used data from the 2023 Masculinity, Sexual Health, and Politics (MSHAP) survey, the primary purpose of which was to document the intersection between masculinity, sexual health and politics in the US.
They then set about testing their hypothesis on 1,840 men by asking them if they personally owned any guns or firearms, any semi-automatic or fully-automatic military-style rifles, and how many they owned. They also assessed penis size satisfaction, asking participants to indicate their overall level of satisfaction on a scale from 1 (completely satisfied) to 7 (completely dissatisfied). Respondents were also asked whether they’d ever used.
