The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Pornography Use

Abstract

Internet pornography (IP) consumption has increased, resulting in functioning and psychological problems. Thus, understanding what variables affect IP uses is needed. One of the variables may be religion. College students (N = 223) completed questions on IP use and religion. About 64 % ever viewed IP and 26 % currently viewed IP, at a rate of 74 min per week. IP use interfered with their relationship with God and spirituality. Religious individuals were less likely to ever or currently view IP. Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and alignment of spiritual values were associated with ever use. Results suggest that religiosity matters in IP use and further research is needed.

Predicting High School Students’ Problematic Internet Use in Terms of Religious Beliefs and Moral Maturity

“…Armfield and Holbert (2003) investigated the relationship between piety and Internet use in their study, finding that religious belief is a relatively weak predictor of Internet use compared to variables such as age, income, and education. Short, Kasper, and Wetterneck (2015) aimed to investigate the relationship between religious beliefs and Internet use intended for pornography in their study and found a negative correlation between the frequency of Internet use intended for pornography and piety. In situations where individuals comply with their religious beliefs and spiritual values, the level of Internet use intended for pornography is near zero.…”

Pornography Use and Marital Quality: Testing the Moral Incongruence Hypothesis

“…(Patterson & Price, 2012; see also Grubbs et al, 2015b;Nelson et al, 2010;Perry, 2017b;Short et al, 2015) that can have relational consequences (Doran & Price, 2014;Perry, 2016, Perry & Snawder, 2017. Several other data limitations are worth addressing in order to chart a path for future research.…”

“…Household income was measured in categories from (1) less than $5,000 to (19) $200,000 or more. Religious factors are highly correlated with both pornography use (Perry, 2016;Perry & Hayward, 2017;Poulsen et al, 2013;Short, Kasper, & Wetterneck, 2015) and marital quality (Ellison et al, 2010;Mahoney, 2010;Perry, 2016). Thus, models included controls for religious commitment, tradition, and conservatism.…”

“…Numerous studies of religious Americans, for example, have shown that such persons are often gripped with considerable shame and guilt regarding their pornography use, despite the fact that they tend to view pornography less than other Americans (Grubbs et al 2015b;Nelson, Padilla-Walker, & Carroll, 2012;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry, 2017b;Regnerus, 2007). In their study of undergraduate men and women, for example, Short, Kasper, and Wetterneck (2015) observe that religious young people who view pornography manifest what Miller and Hedges (2008) call "scrupulosity," a psychological disorder characterized by pathological guilt that can impair social functioning, contributing to individuals withdrawing emotionally and physically from loved ones. Closely related to this idea, moral incongruence represents the experience of violating one's deeply held moral values, that may result in the patterns observed by Short et al (2015) and others (e.g., Grubb et al, 2015;Perry, 2017b).…”

“…In their study of undergraduate men and women, for example, Short, Kasper, and Wetterneck (2015) observe that religious young people who view pornography manifest what Miller and Hedges (2008) call "scrupulosity," a psychological disorder characterized by pathological guilt that can impair social functioning, contributing to individuals withdrawing emotionally and physically from loved ones. Closely related to this idea, moral incongruence represents the experience of violating one's deeply held moral values, that may result in the patterns observed by Short et al (2015) and others (e.g., Grubb et al, 2015;Perry, 2017b).…”