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- November 1, 2026
1,968 views 1 min

Mental Health Among Male Dating App Users

Image Credit: Them

A common perception is that users of dating apps are unhappy people who have trouble maintaining a stable monogamous relationship. A recently published study of 578 Australian males offers more nuance. Among straight men, non-users generally reported lower rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and eating disorders, and higher self-esteem; however, the same was not true […]

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- October 15, 2026
1,943 views 1 min

How Do Sexual Fetishes Develop?

Image Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable / Adobe Stock

In a post from Psychology Today, sex educator and therapist Niki Davis-Fainbloom explains how sexual fetishes develop. Some may come from repeated exposure to ordinary objects in contexts where they are connected with sexually alluring figures (classical Pavlovian conditioning), but often they emerge out of a single first-time sexual experience that is particularly exciting when […]

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- September 15, 2026
1,829 views 52 sec

Non-Monogamy is Healthy

Image Credit: Teresa Grasseschi

As we have noted before in Hard Copy News, monogamy does not produce greater relationship satisfaction or intimacy than consensual non-monogamy. It also does not produce better sexual health. A new study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships establishes that polyamorous individuals are more likely to have themselves tested for sexually transmitted […]

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- August 15, 2026
1,755 views 58 sec

A Good Top is Hard to Find

Image Credit: Merieme Mesfioui

Understanding how men who have sex with men (MSM) identify with sexual role labels such as Top, Bottom, or Versatile offers descriptive insights into how sexuality, identity, and self-presentation of masculinity intersect on dating platforms. Drawing on cross-sectional data from 141,156 active users of the global gay dating app Surge, a new study describes age-based […]

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- August 15, 2026
1,750 views 1 min

Sexual Synesthesia

Image Credit: Tré Carden

Synesthesia is a neurological condition that causes the senses to link and merge. People with this condition may hear colors or taste words and more than 4% of people have some form of synesthesia. People who experience sexual synesthesia, or sexual synesthetes, may have involuntary visions of color, shapes, patterns, or even full-blown scenes when […]

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- August 15, 2026
1,755 views 1 min

Students Shedding Pubic Hair

Photo Credit: Fiskars

Researchers from Indiana University studied a total of 3,139 students (about evenly divided between males and females), who completed the online Campus Sexual Health Survey, to assess their habits of genital grooming. Over 97% of students had shaved or trimmed pubic hair at some point in their life, with an average starting age of 15.5 years. […]

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- August 15, 2026
1,737 views 1 min

Broadening Our View of Autoeroticism

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock

Sexual self-stimulation takes more forms than just stroking one’s genitals, as a recent weighted sample of 3,423 American adults shows. Some people arouse themselves by reading erotica or touching different parts of their body, or merely through personal fantasies; orgasm can also be induced by “syntribation,” which involves flexing pelvic or thigh muscles. Although little […]

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- August 15, 2026
1,703 views 1 min

Study: Mental Health Disparities Among Sexual Minorities Are Due to Family Background, Not Stigma

Photo Credit: Boris Ivas

Compared with the heterosexual population, LGBT people today score lower on key mental health indices. Current scholarship relies on Sexual Minority Stress Theory (SMST) to explain the disparity as resulting from stigma and discrimination. Historically informed scholars question this approach, pointing to the ground-breaking work of UCLA psychologist Evelyn Hooker, who showed in the 1950s […]

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- July 15, 2026
1,639 views 1 min

Most Penis Size Obsession is Psychological

Photo Credit: Deon Black

Physicians express concern about the growing popularity of penis enlargement procedures, which, despite the enthusiastic claims of some practitioners, the relevant professional societies regard as “experimental” due to the lack of sufficient safety and efficacy data. An opinion piece published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine recommends careful psychological screening of patients prior to receiving […]

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- July 15, 2026
1,604 views 1 min

Sex Toy Education in Pornography

Illustration Credit: Brittany England

A team of three women from the University of New Brunswick has studied the use of sex toys in 100 mainstream heterosexual pornographic videos. They found that the toys (including vibrators, dildos, and butt plugs) are most frequently used by the male partner to enhance the pleasure of the female partner, but are often also […]

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