The Surprising Reason Young Men Can’t Seem to Keep Their Hands Out of Their Trousers—Revealed by an Expert

Ever caught yourself squirming in public when you notice a young guy seemingly rehearsing a secret handshake… with his own trousers? Yeah, me too. Turns out this isn’t some weird epidemic of spontaneous genitals-checking — it’s practically a daily ritual for men of all ages. Picture this: research from 2021 reveals blokes tuck a hand down their pants about seven times a day on average. One guy confessed he’s plunging his paw in there over 50 times! Now, I like to imagine they all dash off to wash up afterward, but let’s be honest — not everyone’s that diligent about hygiene. So, what’s really going on here? Is it nervous tic? A social signal? Or a cheeky pandemic-fueled rebellion? Buckle up, because the answers are as surprising as they are hilarious, and trust me, you’ll never glance at the casual crotch grab the same way again. LEARN MORE.

If you find yourself out and about in the world, you might have noticed that an awful lot of young men have a hand down their trousers, and then wished you hadn’t noticed it.

It turns out that men of all ages spend a decent amount of time each day with a hand on their gonads, and it’s not just because we’re checking whether or not they’re still there.

Research from 2021 found that men stick their hands down their pants on average seven times a day, while around a quarter fondled their phallus more than 10 times a day and one crotch-cupping chap told the survey he had his hands down there over 50 times a day.

One hopes they all remembered to wash their hands after having a rummage around inside their trousers, but one fears that not every gentleman adheres to such high standards of hygiene.

Now we have an idea of how much us menfolk are laying hands upon our meat and two veg, it might be helpful to know the reasons why, and fortunately there’s been some research into this region of behaviour.

“Still there? Yes. Good.” (Getty Stock Photo)

Body language expert Martin Brooks told The Times there are three main reasons a young lad would slide his hand into his trousers and rest it upon his undercarriage.

To release oxytocin

The first reason is apparently ‘a displacement activity’ done in order to dispel nervous energy, as physical contact releases the hormone oxytocin which makes a person feel good and has been referred to as the ‘love hormone’.

Other experts have said that having your hands down your pants does make you feel better and can help dispel anxious feelings, though of course some bloke with his hand in his pants might make others anxious.

Somewhere in the dredges of your humble author’s memory is a snippet from some 00s reality TV show which caught out dodgy tradesmen and pointed out that when when a particularly unscrupulous sort lied about how much a job would cost he put his hand over his Willy Wonka, which a body language expert said was a way of comforting himself through the lie.

Because of ‘societal norms’

Meanwhile, Brooks says the second big reason was a ‘change in societal norms’ as he explained that young men could be ‘drawing attention to their masculinity in new ways’.

He said: “It’s a status thing suggesting, ‘This is what’s on my mind.’”

An expert said the main reason was because physical touch produced oxytocin, which helps dispel anxiety (Getty Stock Photo)

As an act of rebellion

He also suggests that the increased exploration below the belt could be an ‘act of rebellion’ as a way of showing everyone they play by nobody’s rules but their own.

Brooks said: “Previously people smoked and it was not necessarily because they liked it — I didn’t — but it is a way of telling older people, ‘I’ll do what I like.’”

Because of the pandemic

Former police officer Darren Stanton told The Times he’d seen it happen more often since the pandemic, and recently saw a man with his hands down his pants in a branch of Starbucks.

He suggested that since the pandemic people had increasingly done things that used to be more socially unacceptable such as popping to the shops in pyjamas or playing music on public transport without headphones.

He said: “Lots of things people did indoors have become more acceptable.”

In general, it would be better if you reserved the hands down the pants action for the privacy of your own home, ideally to be done in close proximity to a sink and some handwash.

Now you know why so many young lads have their hands in their trousers, we can only hope this knowledge has brought you some comfort.