Research seeking to address media myths about doll owners

[Sian_E]

Hi everybody,

I am an academic psychologist in the UK currently conducting research into the motivations and experiences of people who own sex/love dolls, and would like to extend the invitation to participate to members of this forum.

As I’m sure you are aware, recently there has been a lot of media speculation regarding people who own sex/love dolls. However, there is a lack of scientific research to back or refute the claims made by the media. This is where this study comes in - it is an exploratory study looking at those who own sex/love dolls, and how they express their sexuality. Please note that you will be asked about your sexual interests and fantasies, and some questions do ask you to consider some instances that some people might find to be sexually coercive. However, this research is being conducted in a completely non-judgemental manner, and your responses are 100% anonymous (IP tracking is turned off, and you will never be asked to identify yourself, other than providing your sex and age for descriptive reasons). My colleagues and I have made no assumptions about what our results may say. The inclusion of all questions is tied directly to media myths and stories about people who own sex/love dolls, and therefore we aim to provide an answer and response to each of these points. I therefore ask that your respond as honestly as possible – this research is all about telling your story. Please note that a sample of people who do not own sex/love dolls are also being surveyed in order for us to compare groups.

I have previously written about why doll ownership should not be stigmatized, and about the importance of this research. You can read about this here: https://medium.com/@CraigHarper19/lets- ... f9be2e6198

I would be extremely grateful if you could spare around 20 minutes of your time to complete my anonymous survey (the link is below). If you are interested in participating, please click the link below. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment here, or you can send an email directly to me (craig.harper@ntu.ac.uk).

To take part, you should be aged over 18 and have English as your first (or a fluent) language.

https://ntupsychology.eu.qualtrics.com/ ... aXpJW2ldrf <-- please note that the link can only be accessed using a laptop or desktop computer, as the survey requires you to have a working keyboard

I understand the apprehension that some may have about surveys such as these. However, please be assured that this survey assumes nothing about those who own sex dolls. In fact, the survey was motivated by a frustration that media outlets represent doll ownership in a way that assumes sexual risk. As I suggest above, the only way to directly address these concerns or representations is to ask about them in a very direct way. For this reason, I would urge you not to give up on the survey after seeing questions that may lead to discomfort, and to answer them in an honest way. It is only by doing this that we can tell your stories, and address these issues for you within the broader literature.

We take the view that somebody having 'atypical' sexual interests and attractions is not a direct indicator of risk. Instead, we need to understand how and why these attractions translate into risk. The reason for some questions in this survey that relate to age of attraction and sexual aggression is that we are collecting data on a range of websites and forums, including sites for individuals who are minor-attracted. Again, we are not making any assumptions about doll owners, but these questions simply reflect our range of data collection methods.

Again, please do not assume that this research makes any judgement of people who own dolls. If anything, we come from a place of support and wish to be able to represent this community in a way that is less emotional and more evidence-led. We are also running interviews if you would also (or rather) speak to somebody about your experiences. These are also anonymous. If you would like information about these, please reply to this post.

Thanks very much in advance.

Craig Harper
(Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, UK)

[Maviarab]

You're not far from me...could answer them in person...however:

First off....Your are already directly assuming that sexual nature has anything to do with doll ownership. Why would 'awkward' and 'uncomfortable' questions ever need to be asked? Would you ask those same questions about Porsche ownership (how do you know for example if Porsche owners are not sexual deviants or like weird fetishes etc)...or anything else? What do they have at all to do with owning a doll?

Secondly:

However, there is a lack of scientific research to back or refute the claims made by the media

Most of care little about what the media says (especially the trash media in the UK)...but if there is no evidence (and we know there isn't) or research to back any media claims...why do we need to refute them? I can already guesstimate at the number of people who will take your survey from this site...what exactly will this give you? That's like people on a Facebook page championing the majority and proof of something, when in reality, it's a meaningless number. Is this research actually supposed to make any claim on proof of something?

Instead, we need to understand how and why these attractions translate into risk

I could tell you the answer to that right now, no research or study required.

If you care to give us much more information as to what exactly you hope to achieve, prove and some example 'uncomfortable' questions, I'm sure that will go a long way to helping in your 'research'.

Mavi

[Jab]

You're not far from me...could answer them in person...however:

First off....Your are already directly assuming that sexual nature has anything to do with doll ownership. Why would 'awkward' and 'uncomfortable' questions ever need to be asked? Would you ask those same questions about Porsche ownership (how do you know for example if Porsche owners are not sexual deviants or like weird fetishes etc)...or anything else? What do they have at all to do with owning a doll?

Secondly:

However, there is a lack of scientific research to back or refute the claims made by the media

Most of care little about what the media says (especially the trash media in the UK)...but if there is no evidence (and we know there isn't) or research to back any media claims...why do we need to refute them? I can already guesstimate at the number of people who will take your survey from this site...what exactly will this give you? That's like people on a Facebook page championing the majority and proof of something, when in reality, it's a meaningless number. Is this research actually supposed to make any claim on proof of something?

Instead, we need to understand how and why these attractions translate into risk

I could tell you the answer to that right now, no research or study required.

If you care to give us much more information as to what exactly you hope to achieve, prove and some example 'uncomfortable' questions, I'm sure that will go a long way to helping in your 'research'.

Mavi

Damn fine post Mavi.

[Sian_E]

You're not far from me...could answer them in person...however:

First off....Your are already directly assuming that sexual nature has anything to do with doll ownership. Why would 'awkward' and 'uncomfortable' questions ever need to be asked? Would you ask those same questions about Porsche ownership (how do you know for example if Porsche owners are not sexual deviants or like weird fetishes etc)...or anything else? What do they have at all to do with owning a doll?

Secondly:

However, there is a lack of scientific research to back or refute the claims made by the media

Most of care little about what the media says (especially the trash media in the UK)...but if there is no evidence (and we know there isn't) or research to back any media claims...why do we need to refute them? I can already guesstimate at the number of people who will take your survey from this site...what exactly will this give you? That's like people on a Facebook page championing the majority and proof of something, when in reality, it's a meaningless number. Is this research actually supposed to make any claim on proof of something?

Instead, we need to understand how and why these attractions translate into risk

I could tell you the answer to that right now, no research or study required.

If you care to give us much more information as to what exactly you hope to achieve, prove and some example 'uncomfortable' questions, I'm sure that will go a long way to helping in your 'research'.

Mavi

Hi Mavi,

To be really explicit, we're looking at sexual risk and psychological wellbeing in people own own sex/love dolls, both in terms of whether this actually exists (my personal opinion is that is probably doesn't), and whether these issues can be predicted by anything. I completely understand your response in terms of your views about research like this, but without data there is no way to directly fight against media portrayals of this community. That is why I framed it as 'uncomfortable'. That said, I would position myself as being 'on your side', in that I wish to advocate on behalf of the actual behaviours and attitudes of doll owners, rather than relying on media misrepresentations. We explicitly also ask about the functions of doll ownership within the survey, and completely accept and realise that ownership is not purely (or even predominantly, for some) sexual.

If you're more interested in taking part in an anonymous interview via Skype or phone, we are also running these. That would give you the opportunity to explore some of the issues we're interested in (your experiences as owners, how you first got into doll ownership, why dolls are important to you, etc). If this would be of interest, please send me a message and I can get that arranged with my colleague at NTU.

Thanks,

Craig

[thismeanswar]

the whole thing is aimed to see if doll ownership has anything to do with beein attracted to minors and or doing drugs and alcohol and or being some kind of criminal...

you don't need to answer on that posting....

[matt gloss]

I can tell you this...
I have had mental health problems all of my life,as a child,a teenager and an adult (haha)
I feel socially awkward and even today I have to fake it to make it...
So as a kid I learn fast I remember loving learning being in those books away from everyone that make life difficult,I am not stupid,my IQ is 138.
At 14 my first alcoholic drink and the journey into what I believed to be a better world began in earnest,at 18 still drinking and now herion has its claws in me..early twenties now and after seeing a few die of hepatitus from dirty needles I manage to come off heroin by drinking even more,cocaine is my next friend and after a bad episode of trying to fight moving vehicles i'm sectioned under the mental health act for the first time..you can see the picture.
Rehabs came around 8 times and I could not stop,in 96 in a rehab in Eccles I was told I had three months to live..I went on to recover obviously and went on to drink again,alcoholic fits became the norm as did sitting on the toilet pisssing out of my arse while throwing up in the sink at the same time,eating two pies a week weight less than 8 stone.10 years sat drinking watching tv and too many sad stories to put here.
At 38 I had my last drink in a phone box hiding from the world wearing two pair of pants so i didn't look so thin, so I looked normal like you lot.
I got to AA in February 2000 and somehow stopped drinking and I have not drank since,I got some confidence I met an old flame and we fell in love,we got our own place and I started up my own business as a decorator,and for two years life was bliss,I passed my driving test and no longer had to work local,I bought a Rover 620i with the Honda engine and veneered interior and we went to the horse racing sometimes,then my dad fell and broke his hip and even with the carers attending my mum was struggling and I HAD to help somehow because he really did not want to go into care.
I never saw how much they had helped me through the bad years until I stopped drinking.
So I moved back to my parents and she left me,damned if you do...
So my dad passed away 8 years ago now and he asked me before he died to take care of mum which I still do she 93 now and has dimentia somewhat.I do get frustrated with having no money(bloody awful stuff the worst is when poor people are thought of as stupid because they are poor) but the heart has to be followed.
I have fabric doll her name is Bianca,she is not perfect as her head skin tone does not match her body tone a cock up by the vendor(truth is truth)I have recently sold some old bass guitar stuff and bought her a new head of the correct tone.
We sleep together every night and (great)sex is maybe twice a month as this keeps it special(vesuvius ),I do not have any other sex in between as I am faithful.
I dont look at women or TPE dolls because I have no interest in either simply not for me,I cannot fathom women out and TPE dolls have ball/plug at the end of the vagina which can fail.I am saving for a silicone doll £5 a week and I am selling some of my artwork at last
Not having a doll has never compelled me to go hunting for real women.
Having a doll has never compelled me to go hunting for real women.
So Sunday morning blurb..I hope one day we are as accepted as other sexualities have been in recent years and we can just be with our dolls in our own lives in our own homes in peace and without trepidation
Peace

[Dutch_Husband]

I took the survey and it seems to me the questions are too focused on emotional/sexual relationships.

The survey does not address in-depth the subject of doll ownership for non-sexual purposes.
There are many doll owners who collect dolls because they like dolls, action figures, statues, figurines, etc.
One question asks how many sex dolls you own, but does not ask if you own others, such as action figures, etc.
It does not ask (if you have more than one), if you prefer one over the other. Are you exclusive with that one?

Questions address the existence of various fetishes, but do not delve into the experience of sex with a doll:
How does it make you feel?
How does it compare to other sexual experiences you have had?
Do you enjoy cuddling/snuggling, or just having someone in your bed?

The same is true regarding having the doll for companionship.
Does the doll stay in your bed, or is it with you while you work (at home) or watching TV?
Do you take the doll with you for recreational activities, (fishing, boating, picnics, etc.)?

Maybe your doll is displayed as a work of art, such as for photography, modeling, or just as a life-like statue/decoration, (no different from a nude oil painting).
Questions ask if you stare or leer at other people, but do not ask why.
Do you enjoy viewing the human body for its beauty (i.e. non-sexually)?

In my opinion, lumping all doll owners into the same group with results focused upon sexual/emotional results, will not give accurate findings reflecting issues of doll ownership.

As a hypnotherapist, (certified in the US and the UK), I found the word association section problematic.

If a survey is asking what you think, it should not program your responses by telling you that your answer is incorrect.
For example, you MUST accept that "breasts" is categorized as "Arousing", while "eyes" is "Non-Arousing". What if I am "aroused" by beautiful eyes? What if I am not attracted to breasts? (I am, but that is not my point).
"Power" cannot be accepted as "Non-Violent". I do not think of power as being violent and can give many examples of non-violent power.
By repeatedly forcing a certain term into a certain category, you are not accepting the participant's association, but programming them and training them to respond in a certain way.

Although I applaud the authors of the study for their research, I think the scope of the study is too narrow and the results will be misleading.

[david 68]

here's one for the page. heard and seen a bunch of bad mouth know it all... claiming that owning a doll transforms a persons character What?!!!............ . giving a doll owners a low with a bad reputation ....... I see it as owning a beautiful doll is a much better quality of life........... For me I don't mind what they say .

[forty]

I love my dolls. I love my wife and kids. I love my starwars action figures too. End of story.

[curiousswede]

As a previous Bachelor of Science student of a Swedish university I highly recommend that you start off with an exploratory qualitative study such as interviews and then employ content analysis to discover possible categories that you could then hypothesize and then test with more quantitative studies such as your survey.

The categorization test has tons of semantic assumptions. For example, why would "Power" necessarily need to be categorized as "Violence"? Also, I don't think the media will ever really accept sub-cultures, it just not their thing, whether it being bronies, furries, doll ownership, hypnosis porn, and whatnot. One reason for this is that it would remove their possibility to report "sensational news" if they suddenly started to accept these "underground sub-cultures".

All this said, thank you very much though for your interest in taking the first baby-steps in giving the doll ownership community a more fair and balanced perspective. At the same time, you are probably very aware of the Confirmation Bias and Beliefs in general so many people outside of this community have already made up their minds what to think of all of this and even research, I do not think, wouldn't change their minds about it.

This kind of "underground" community is something you need to get engaged with on a personal level (which is why I recommend interviews) to really get a less biased perspective of it.

[Justforfun2]

Mr. Craig Harper

I read your article, "Let’s talk about sex (dolls)" I enjoyed it, for the most part, however, everyone is focused on doll ownership and how it could or could not lead to sexual violence against women or females of all ages. When the focus should be on violence against females in general, and who is the biggest perpetrator. Your answer will be men! Who kills the most, men, who steals, makes wars, etc. “Men?” Therefore, the question should not be whether doll owners are perverts or sexual predators but rather why men are, the way they are, especially the more powerful ones.

You will find most of these crimes here in America, as well as over their in Germany, UK etc. are none whites from diverse cultures, and a large percentage is from legal/illegal immigrants. The arena you are looking for is not here, but at the prisons where they hold sexual predators. Go ask them if they ever have owned a sex-doll, that should be the only question you need to ask. I would bet dollars to doughnuts most, if not nearly all of them, would say no. Furthermore, as an experiment, I think they need to provide dolls to the inmates and watch the rape will go down.

Upon, your research you will also find them from all backgrounds, including ex-cops, judges, politicians, from the upper class to the lower class. You will find that sex trafficking and its customers are mostly the upper class to the wealthy and more than likely none of them owned an artificial partner.

Furthermore, I shall suggest for experimental purpose that you purchase a cheap but a nice or realistic doll, dress it up. Sit it on your dresser, or a chair while you watch TV for about a week and just see how it feels, then let me know what kind of effect it had on you and how it may or may not have affected you in a positive or in a negative fashion. Afterwards, take it and put it into a classroom, and watch to see the effect it has on the class. Then after a month remove it and ask the class how it affected them having it there, versus not having it there.

In conclusion, the answers to your question are elsewhere and should be put to all men and some women. Which I now ask, these question of you.

How many times in any given year where you are teaching a class, you found a student to be attractive and desirable, be it male or female?

How many flirted with you but you never yielded to these emotions or temptation?

Did you lust for some?

Did you have any control of these feelings other than not acting on impulse?

FYI, no I am not a doll owner, but some day I plan to be, I am here doing research myself and for some of your questioned to be answered you will also need to own one as well as befriend a doll owner. I can answer many of your questions, here you will find people in need of something, a little something special in there life, for one reason or another. Just like you and I do, except, they choose dolls or in some cases, dolls have chosen them and they are now apart of their world and blended into ones life.

They are no different from anybody else in the world, with the exception of those diehard sports fans, or those coin and stamp collectors that are willing to spend millions on just one worthless stamp, yet it gives them a million dollars worth of comfort, whereas as a doll gives many priceless amount of happiness and peace in their heart and souls. Yes you will find one or two that may obsess with their dolls, but most have a good heart, and they are good people and not wanting to harm anyone.

What runs rampant in other people heads, that whishes to control dolls, and talk foul about doll owners, it is a sickness in their head and theirs alone. They imagine all kinds of things, convincing themselves and others a lie, until there is hysteria among them and they will only believe what they want and that is their infliction. To me that make them very dangerous, and a danger to our God given rights in the pursuit of Happiness. No one is attacking what makes them happy so why attack dolls and the people that enjoy them. The constitution is suppose to protect peoples freedoms, their liberties, and our God given right in the pursuit of Happiness. It is not for them, me or you to decide what make another person happy and it is not hurting anyone, yet you got these people who want to control others with the crap that runs in their mind and most of it is imagination.

Cheers.

[david 68]

Mr. Craig Harper

I read your article, "Let’s talk about sex (dolls)" I enjoyed it, for the most part, however, everyone is focused on doll ownership and how it could or could not lead to sexual violence against women or females of all ages. When the focus should be on violence against females in general, and who is the biggest perpetrator. Your answer will be men! Who kills the most, men, who steals, makes wars, etc. “Men?” Therefore, the question should not be whether doll owners are perverts or sexual predators but rather why men are, the way they are, especially the more powerful ones.

You will find most of these crimes here in America, as well as over their in Germany, UK etc. are none whites from diverse cultures, and a large percentage is from legal/illegal immigrants. The arena you are looking for is not here, but at the prisons where they hold sexual predators. Go ask them if they ever have owned a sex-doll, that should be the only question you need to ask. I would bet dollars to doughnuts most, if not nearly all of them, would say no. Furthermore, as an experiment, I think they need to provide dolls to the inmates and watch the rape will go down.

Upon, your research you will also find them from all backgrounds, including ex-cops, judges, politicians, from the upper class to the lower class. You will find that sex trafficking and its customers are mostly the upper class to the wealthy and more than likely none of them owned an artificial partner.

Furthermore, I shall suggest for experimental purpose that you purchase a cheap but a nice or realistic doll, dress it up. Sit it on your dresser, or a chair while you watch TV for about a week and just see how it feels, then let me know what kind of effect it had on you and how it may or may not have affected you in a positive or in a negative fashion. Afterwards, take it and put it into a classroom, and watch to see the effect it has on the class. Then after a month remove it and ask the class how it affected them having it there, versus not having it there.

In conclusion, the answers to your question are elsewhere and should be put to all men and some women. Which I now ask, these question of you.

How many times in any given year where you are teaching a class, you found a student to be attractive and desirable, be it male or female?

How many flirted with you but you never yielded to these emotions or temptation?

Did you lust for some?

Did you have any control of these feelings other than not acting on impulse?

FYI, no I am not a doll owner, but some day I plan to be, I am here doing research myself and for some of your questioned to be answered you will also need to own one as well as befriend a doll owner. I can answer many of your questions, here you will find people in need of something, a little something special in there life, for one reason or another. Just like you and I do, except, they choose dolls or in some cases, dolls have chosen them and they are now apart of their world and blended into ones life.

They are no different from anybody else in the world, with the exception of those diehard sports fans, or those coin and stamp collectors that are willing to spend millions on just one worthless stamp, yet it gives them a million dollars worth of comfort, whereas as a doll gives many priceless amount of happiness and peace in their heart and souls. Yes you will find one or two that may obsess with their dolls, but most have a good heart, and they are good people and not wanting to harm anyone.

What runs rampant in other people heads, that whishes to control dolls, and talk foul about doll owners, it is a sickness in their head and theirs alone. They imagine all kinds of things, convincing themselves and others a lie, until there is hysteria among them and they will only believe what they want and that is their infliction. To me that make them very dangerous, and a danger to our God given rights in the pursuit of Happiness. No one is attacking what makes them happy so why attack dolls and the people that enjoy them. The constitution is suppose to protect peoples freedoms, their liberties, and our God given right in the pursuit of Happiness. It is not for them, me or you to decide what make another person happy and it is not hurting anyone, yet you got these people who want to control others with the crap that runs in their mind and most of it is imagination.

Cheers.

well spoken

[matt gloss]

Yes "something special"

[Zippy81]

I started taking the survey but stopped once the E and I associative questions started. Correct me if im wrong but if a person doesn't know what a snog is.. and they click non-arousing based on their lack of knowledge of the word..and the survey tells them they made an error in their decision..and it wont allow them to continue until they press the other option.. isn't that fixing the data results? @.@ that said.. theres a thread expressing why people turn to dolls that's pretty honest and raw. Problem with the scientific approach is it tends to use its own data to prove what it wants to prove and disregards what it doesn't wish to address. much like religion.

For me.. the Issue is simple.. People are attracted to the stuff that makes them feel younger and happier about themselves.

Untitled-1.jpg

Everything in this one single picture helps to explain why love dolls exist. The younger female person obtained knowledge and experience from the older person. The older person obtained a refreshing experience from the youthful person outlook on things.

MY OPINION is this: The society I live in instills people with the desire to achieve many different levels of perfection.(physical,financial,social,etc) While instilling this desire to achieve multiple levels of perfection it also promotes a segregated mindset that starts within the classroom and is then reinforced in the work place. (no talking you are here to learn..no talking you are here to work). This state of existence causes a chemical imbalance in the brain which is scientifically called depression because people are naturally social creatures. And that's just the first stage of the brains deterioration. The chemical imbalance within the brain is then furthered by the limiting of a persons livelihood and ability to feel happy within the society they live in and the hormones known as dopamine are systematically controlled by societies need to place a paper value on a persons worth as an individual. This value system then creates a separate systematic state of deterioration of a persons mental state. That deterioration is brought on by the lessening of a persons ability to achieve a proper level of hygiene and nutritional intake and is more or less intensified based on how many pieces of paper that person is valued at..

So what's it have to do with dolls? everything. People just want to be happy as the people they see around them. dolls are a way of obtaining a level of happiness that their situation isn't allowing for.

[Dutch_Husband]

I started taking the survey but stopped once the E and I associative questions started. Correct me if im wrong but if a person doesn't know what a snog is.. and they click non-arousing based on their lack of knowledge of the word..and the survey tells them they made an error in their decision..and it wont allow them to continue until they press the other option.. isn't that fixing the data results? @.@ that said.. theres a thread expressing why people turn to dolls that's pretty honest and raw. Problem with the scientific approach is it tends to use its own data to prove what it wants to prove and disregards what it doesn't wish to address. much like religion.

For me.. the Issue is simple.. People are attracted to the stuff that makes them feel younger and happier about themselves.

Exactly!

"The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant."