The ownership of highly naturalistic sex dolls has become an increasingly discussed phenomenon in recent years, with legal scholars and legislators calling for increased regulation and criminalization, based on the argument that sex dolls increase sexual objectification and owners’ risk levels for sexual offending. However, these arguments have not been empirically tested, and so far, the only evidence about sex doll owners has come from surveys posted on online forums catering to the most enthusiastic owners.
Accordingly, the Percy Foundation has funded a study by psychologists Craig Harper and Rebecca Lievesley at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, who have worked with vendors and manufacturers of these dolls to survey the characteristics and satisfaction of new purchasers of these products, as well as developing attitudes during their first year of ownership. This work is ongoing, but data so far reveals that new purchasers tend to be young men and to report high levels of anxiety and depression, suggesting that they may be individuals who have difficulty in negotiating romantic and sexual relationships with human partners. While it is true that they exhibit high levels of sexual objectification and entitlement (tendencies shared with involuntary celibates or “incels”), these are likely pre-existing traits that motivate their purchase of sex dolls rather than being caused or exacerbated by use of the dolls.
The project also aims to survey the attitudes and assumptions of law enforcement and medical/therapeutic professionals. What has emerged from that work so far is that these stakeholders have a strong desire for more data and information.