Heres How Salary Corresponds to Penis Size Study
listen i know what youre thinking. what kind of absolute lunatic decides to study the correlation between penis size and income? and more importantly WHO FUNDED THIS? well apparently some researchers decided this was a worthwhile use of their time and here we are discussing it on the internet because of course we are.
the study which ive seen floating around various news outlets claims to have found a correlation between self-reported penis size and salary. men who reported being above average earned more money than those who reported being below average. groundbreaking stuff really.
but hold up before you start measuring anything let me point out some obvious problems here. first its SELF REPORTED. meaning dudes are telling researchers how big they are. you dont need a degree in statistics to spot the issue there. second correlation does not equal causation as anyone whos taken a basic science class knows.
what this study might actually be measuring is confidence. men who are more confident about their bodies tend to be more confident in other areas of life including career negotiations and job interviews. confidence leads to better outcomes. thats not exactly news.
its also possible that men who earn more money are more likely to exaggerate on surveys because they have inflated egos about everything. rich people thinking theyre great at stuff isnt exactly a new phenomenon. when you look at how financial literacy correlates with confidence there might be something there.
i tried to find the actual peer-reviewed study and honestly its a mess. the methodology is questionable at best. sample sizes vary wildly depending on which version of this story youre reading. classic case of a headline designed to go viral with dubious science backing it up.
but heres the thing. this story has been shared approximately one billion times because of course it has. we love anything that confirms our biases or makes us feel better or worse about ourselves. its internet catnip.
my professional recommendation as someone who spends too much time online? dont make any career decisions based on this. dont make any OTHER decisions based on this either. its junk science wrapped in clickbait. which i realize is ironic given that im writing about it but hey at least im being honest about the whole situation.
