Senior Steve Carroll recounted the preadolescence days when he and his buddies took a good ol’… Senior Steve Carroll recounted the preadolescence days when he and his buddies took a good ol’ ruler to their man parts to size up.

“At this age, I don’t think we really compare dicks anymore,” he said. “It was a thing we all used to do in middle school … Middle school was the dick comparison age.”

But sex experts say that the age of penis comparison spans far longer than the days of school dances, braces and newly sprouted pubic hair. And for some, a penis that doesn’t size up can bring on heavy doses of anxiety and low confidence.

“It’s across the board, through all ages … Because if they have the idea of penis size when they’re young, why would they change when they’re older?” said William Granzig, founder of the American Board of Sexology and president of the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists.

Granzig said that the average erect penis measures about six to six and a half inches, whereas a small penis is characterized by a three- to four-inch erect shaft. The rare micropenis is one inch or smaller in length. Granzig said that penis size is directly related to the amount of testosterone a fetus receives while still in the uterus.

“No guy really ever thinks his penis is too big; it’s always too small … It’s a real interesting thing because it’s almost like sport. In other words, whoever has the biggest penis wins,” Granzig said.

The vagina can adapt to various penis sizes, and Granzig said it can accommodate a penis of more than seven inches. But if a penis is too big, it can hit the uterus.

Jennifer Bass, the director of communications at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University, said that the institute often receives letters and phone calls from men hung up on the size of their penis.

“The number one question is, ‘How can I enlarge my penis?’ and the number two is, ‘Am I normal?’” she said.

Bass said the anxiety that comes with the fear of being labeled “small” parallels the anxiety people have about their body image overall.

“People have anxieties about all kinds of things that are related to their bodies, and it is unfortunate but … it does inhibit a lot of people. And it creates anxiety for men, especially young men who are just becoming sexually active,” she said.

Bass and Carroll both believe the media might have emasculated the man with the barely bulging bump in his pants.

“I feel confident about my penis, and I think I’d feel confident about it if it were small or bigger,” Carroll said.

Bass said the porn industry might be to blame for putting the large penis on a pedestal.

“I think that anxiety increases as more people watch porn and think that men that are well-endowed are the norm,” she said.

But Granzig disagrees.

Granzig, who has taught sexology in China, Germany and India, said that even in places where the government keeps a close eye on the media, penis size is still a big concern.

In some Polynesian and African tribes, men wear horns as penis sheaths. Granzig said the horns do not directly correlate to the wearers’ penis sizes but still signify who’s in power.

“Oh, you’re the king because you have a longer horn,” Granzig said. “They certainly wouldn’t be affected by the media.”

But what about the partner that gets to receive the penis?

Drs. Kevan Wylie and Ian Eardley published “Penile size and the ‘small penis syndrome,’” in 2006 based on their findings from an Internet survey distributed to 52,031 heterosexual men and women.

The survey found that while about 85 percent of women reported feeling satisfied with the size of their partner’s penis, only about 55 percent of men were satisfied with the size of their package, and 44 percent wanted to be larger.

“The issue of attractiveness to women is complex, but most data suggest that penile size is much lower down the list of priorities for women than such issues as a man’s personality and external grooming,” the study said.

Bass said that regardless of a homosexual or heterosexual relationship, partners do not fret over size.

“The most important organ is your brain,” she said.

Sophomore Kelsey Martin said that she picks a guy on a number of qualities — personality, intelligence, likability — none of the criteria related to body-part length.

“Penis size doesn’t matter,” she said.

Though the importance of penis size remains up for debate, one thing’s for certain: Few wish to shrink their member.

“If you want to have a losing medical practice, advertise penis reduction,” Granzig said.