Motivations and Psychological Characteristics of Men Seeking Penile Girth Augmentation

The popularity of penile augmentation procedures is increasing, but little is known about the motivations and psychological characteristics of men who seek these procedures.

Employing valid psychological measures, the authors sought to investigate the motivations and psychological characteristics of men seeking penile girth augmentation.

Men seeking to undergo a penile girth augmentation (n = 37) completed an online questionnaire containing standardized measures assessing their motivations to undergo augmentation, penile size self-discrepancy, psychological distress, self-esteem, body image-related quality of life, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and cosmetic procedure screening scale-penile focused dysmorphic disorder.

Men's motivations for seeking penile girth augmentation were characterized as "improve self-confidence," "change penile size/appearance," "sexual function/pleasure," "feelings of insecurity," and "medical issues," with self-confidence being the most commonly reported motivation. The men perceived their actual penis size (girth, flaccid length, erect length) as significantly smaller than ideal size, the size they believed their penis should be, and their expected size postaugmentation. Compared with non-clinical norms, the men seeking penile augmentation had higher penile dysmorphic disorder symptoms, lower self-esteem and lower body image-related quality of life, but comparable psychological distress. In addition, 4 of the men met diagnostic criteria for BDD according to self-reported questionnaire (11%, n = 4/37) and clinical interview (14%, n = 4/29).

Men seek penile girth augmentation for a variety of reasons and perceive all their penile dimensions to be smaller than ideal sizes. They differ from non-clinical samples in some psychological characteristics, and a small but sizeable portion experience BDD.