Modern Sex-Doll Owner: A Descriptive Analysis

Abstract

Over the last fifteen years, the sex doll industry has grown from producing inexpensive novelty items to creating a multimillion-dollar global industry featuring high-quality, realistic love dolls. These dolls are designed and advertised for sexual stimulation, companionship, artistic representations of human fantasy, and other creative pursuits, such as photography. Made of flesh-like silicone, modern sex dolls sell from $3,500-$10,000. The use of human simulacra for sexual stimulation is an enduring practice. However, the psychological community has said little on the subject. Early sexologists briefly reference Agalmatophilia or Statuphilia, a rare sexual attachment to statues. Today, the sex doll phenomenon appears increasingly prevalent across the globe. Media coverage of this phenomenon has been featured in online magazines, television programs, music, documentaries and major motion pictures. More often than not, sex dollownership is portrayed as pathological. Sex doll-owners are members of a marginalized population, and accessing the population is challenging as many members of the community wish to remain anonymous for fear of judgment, persecution, and psychiatric labeling. The purpose of this study was to increase psychology's understanding of this interesting and growing population. Specifically, a 45-item online survey addressing demographics was constructed and assessed. Additionally, participants were asked to describe their relationship status, doll-ownership status, and satisfaction with human and sex doll partners, including sexual satisfaction and performance. Quality of life was also assessed via the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Sixty-one participants were recruited from an online doll-owner community forum. It was hypothesized that most doll-owners sampled would be middle-aged, White, single, heterosexual males who are neither significantly better nor worse in terms of psycho-sexual functioning and life satisfaction than the general population. Descriptive data and statistical analysis partially supported the hypotheses. Implications and future direction are discussed, as are methodological considerations.

Exploring the psychological characteristics and risk-related cognitions of individuals who own sex dolls

“…According to some reports, the global market for sex dolls is a multi-million dollar industry (Valverde, 2012). Dolls are typically realistic and can be made as a true likeness of real models, with adult film stars already seeing this as an additional business opportunity (Langcaster-James & Bentley, 2018).…”

“…The limited evidence that is currently available suggests that motivations for sex doll ownership are overwhelmingly sexual (Danaher, 2017b(Danaher, , 2019bDöring & Pöschl, 2018;Ray, 2016). In small-scale surveys of owners, up to 70% of participants suggest that sexual gratification is the primary purpose of a doll (Langcaster-James & Bentley, 2018;Valverde, 2012). However, it has been suggested that sex is just one of a number of reasons for doll ownership among this subgroup (Ferguson, 2014;Valverde, 2012).…”

“…In small-scale surveys of owners, up to 70% of participants suggest that sexual gratification is the primary purpose of a doll (Langcaster-James & Bentley, 2018;Valverde, 2012). However, it has been suggested that sex is just one of a number of reasons for doll ownership among this subgroup (Ferguson, 2014;Valverde, 2012). Even discounting this non-exclusivity of motivations, these statistics indicate that approximately one-in-three doll owners have a doll for primarily non-sexual reasons.…”

“…Even discounting this non-exclusivity of motivations, these statistics indicate that approximately one-in-three doll owners have a doll for primarily non-sexual reasons. Common alternatives are often linked to relationships, such as interpersonal connection and emotional intimacy (Ferguson, 2014;Su et al, 2019;Valverde, 2012), while others own dolls purely for artistic pursuits (e.g., photography; Su et al, 2019).…”

“…This was the basis for the claim that we should abandon the "unsophisticated" porn star design of sex dolls and robots, and to instead create "robots that are more realistic in their representations (both physical and behavioral) of women, that represent men, and that perhaps challenge the gender binary" (Danaher, 2019a, p. 142). However, the physical features of popular sex doll models (e.g., larger breasts, combined with a waist-to-hip ratio of approximately 0.70; Kock et al, 2008;Valverde, 2012) correspond to evolutionary cues that men find sexually attractive across a range of cultures and measurement approaches (Brooks et al, 2010;Buss, 2021;Del Zotto & Pegna, 2017;Dixson et al, 2011;Griffith et al, 2016;Saad, 2008Saad, , 2017Singh et al, 2010).…”