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You might think that wanting to be tied up and whipped is a guaranteed sign of psychological distress, but according to a recent study, people who participate in bondage and dominance/submission play may be happier and less anxious than those with more conventional sexual tastes.

Public health researchers studied 20,000 Australians to determine that despite the stereotype that people with off-the-beaten-path sexual interests are somehow damaged, men who take part in BDSM score significantly lower on a scale of mental distress than other men.


"Our findings support the idea that bondage and discipline and sadomasochism (BDSM) is simply a sexual interest or subculture attractive to a minority," Associate Professor Juliet Richters and her colleagues wrote in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

These findings coincide nicely with the recent outbreak of bondage-friendly superhero comics. When we think about how we'd feel if Wonder Woman used her lasso of truth to tie us up for some kinky bondage games, the study starts to make perfect sense.

Wanna see some more ladies dressed like Wonder Woman?


Running with the Bulls

    Revelers are chased by Conde de la Corte ranch fighting bulls on the first day of the running of the bulls during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

    AP

    Revelers chased by Conde de la Corte ranch fighting bulls, not seen, run on the first day of the running of the bulls during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, Monday, July 7, 2008. The 'Los San Fermines' festival, held since 1591, attracts tens of thousands of foreign visitors each year for nine days of revelry, morning bull-runs and afternoon bullfights. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

    AP

    PAMPLONA, SPAIN - JULY 07: Micky Loomey of New Zealand is attended to by members of the Red Cross after being injured during the first San Fermin running of the bulls on July 7, 2008 in Pamplona, Spain. Fighting bulls are run through the old part of Pamplona for eight days in this fiesta made famous by the 1926 Ernest Hemmingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises'. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    PAMPLONA, SPAIN - JULY 07: A runner leads the pack of fighting bulls around a curve during the first San Fermin running of the bulls on July 7, 2008 in Pamplona, Spain. Fighting bulls are run through the old part of Pamplona for eight days in this fiesta made famous by the 1926 Ernest Hemmingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises'. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    PAMPLONA, SPAIN - JULY 07: A fighting bull takes the curve during the first San Fermin running of the bulls on July 7, 2008 in Pamplona, Spain. Fighting bulls are run through the old part of Pamplona for eight days in this fiesta made famous by the 1926 Ernest Hemmingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises'. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    A runner is attended to after being injured during the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2008. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN)

    Reuters

    A runner is attended to after being injured during the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2008. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN)

    Reuters

    Runners sprint next to Conde de la Corte fighting bulls during the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2008. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN)

    Reuters

    A reveller is tossed by a heifer on the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2008. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN)

    Reuters

    Runners sprint in front of Conde de la Corte fighting bulls and steers during the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2008. REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN)

    Reuters