There is a belief that if you have sex in socks, the likelihood of orgasm will increase. We decided to check whether this is supported by scientific evidence.
Statement, fully or partially coinciding with the question that interests us, can be found not only on thematic resources in lifestyle publications or publics V social networks, but also in Russian, Kazakh And Ukrainian Media. Some sources claimthat socks increase the chance of orgasm by up to 80%, and some resources complement narrative, reporting that the warmer the socks, the brighter the orgasm, in particular in women.
Orgasm is a complex physiological and at the same time psychological process, representing the culmination of sexual arousal. It is accompanied by intense physical and emotional sensations, as well as various biochemical changes in the body. Orgasm arises as a result of stimulation of erogenous zones such as the genitals, nipples and other sensitive areas of the body. In turn, stimulation causes arousal, which increases and reaches a peak at the moment of orgasm.
The process of sexual response consists of some stages. Initially, physical or psychological stimulation increases blood flow to the genitals, causing them to swell and become more sensitive. Then, at the plateau stage, the muscles tense up to the maximum, the heart rate and breathing increase. The vessels fill with blood, creating conditions for the onset of discharge. At the moment of orgasm, the pelvic floor muscles and genital organs contract sharply, which is usually accompanied by the release of seminal fluid in men and vaginal secretion in women. Finally, the resolution phase or refractory period begins. It is usually accompanied by relaxation, a feeling of fatigue and drowsiness. At this stage, the body returns to its normal level of functioning.
Ability to experience orgasm depends from many factors. From a physiological point of view, the likelihood of a female orgasm is influenced by the level of supply of nerves to the genital organs, which ensures their connection with the central nervous system, and the location of the clitoris, and in men, the condition of the prostate gland. Emotional background, stress level and the presence or absence of psychological trauma can also significantly affect the ability to achieve orgasm. For example, anxiety can make it difficult to become aroused. The level of sexual freedom and a comfortable environment also play an important role in achieving orgasm.
Information that wearing socks during sex increases the likelihood of orgasm appeared in June 2005. Then Professor Geert Holstege from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands told BBC about the results of their experiments. However, the scientist was not at all interested in the connection between clothing and sex, but in the differences in the brain’s reactions to real and fake orgasms. He invited 13 heterosexual couples aged 19 to 49 for the experiment. First, one partner was positioned so that his head was inside the MRI scanner and his body was outside. At this time, the second partner manually stimulated the erogenous zones of the subject, then they changed places. To ensure that the participants in the experiment could relax, the lighting in the room was dimmed and all extraneous noise was minimized.
However, the air temperature in the laboratory, apparently, was not entirely comfortable, so the volunteers who underwent brain scans and received the caresses of a partner were simply cold lying without socks and shoes (although by design experiment the subjects were not completely naked, their feet were not covered with anything). They complained to the experimenters about this and asked permission to at least put on socks, citing the fact that cold feet did not at all contribute to relaxation. The BBC describes the situation this way: "When experimenters gave couples permission to put on socks, about 80% of couples were able to achieve orgasm, compared with 50% before." However, journalists do not say whether all 13 pairs of socks were put on or only those who complained, and whether those volunteers who managed to achieve orgasm without socks underwent repeated experiments.
However, firstly, the study did not focus on socks and orgasms at all, it was just an additional observation of scientists. Testing such a hypothesis was not, in principle, the purpose of the experiment. Secondly, the sample of 13 couples is too modest for any conclusions. Thirdly, when retelling the phrase taken out of context, people later made an arithmetic error: in the experiment described, the number of orgasms achieved in socks increased not by 30%, but by 60%.
Ana Rosa Jurado, member of the board of directors of the Spanish Academy of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, in a comment to the Catalan fact-checking publication Verificat confirmed: “There is no evidence to date that sex in socks increases the likelihood of sexual pleasure.” In the same vein speaks out and Miguel Angel Rando, president of the Spanish Association of University Psychological and Psychoeducational Services - in his opinion, among the factors that can affect the likelihood of orgasm, socks are in last place.
Moreover, from the point of view of statistics and probability, the data obtained in Professor Holstege's experiment cannot be called significant. The real probability of orgasm in this sample under normal conditions is unknown (after all, people are placed in an unusual situation: an MRI scanner, experimenters in the next room, unusual sounds of a tomograph, etc.). Let's assume that this real probability is equidistant from both results obtained with and without socks, that is, 17 out of 26 people still achieve sexual release. In this case, both the resulting results (13 and 21) are less than two standard deviations away from this average: sqrt (17 * (1-17 / 26)). That is, the results obtained in the situation with and without socks are statistically insignificant and it is impossible to draw any scientific conclusions based on them.
Most likely, the behavior of the volunteers observed by scientists was not explained by some mysterious influence of socks. To have fun, you need to relax, and it’s more difficult to do this with any distraction: the temperature is not high enough, the sound of a lawnmower outside the window, or an annoying flashing light bulb. As soon as the stimulus disappears, the brain is better able to concentrate on pleasant sensations.
We could not find any other studies on the connection between wearing socks during sex and the likelihood of achieving an orgasm “Verified”.
Thus, the claim that the chance of having an orgasm increases by 30% if you wear socks during sex appeared due to a misinterpretation of the results of the experiment. It was conducted on a small sample of volunteers, and during it the scientists did not set out to determine the role of socks in sexual release.
Cover image: Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
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