Pornography Use and Marital Quality: Testing the Moral Incongruence Hypothesis

Abstract

Studies often report a negative association between pornography use and marital quality. A number of studies, however, find this negative association to be stronger among religious Americans, suggesting that "moral incongruence" may be a key moderating factor. This theory is tested with panel data from the nationally representative 2006-2012 Portraits of American Life Study (N = 612). Support for the theory is mixed. Any pornography use in 2006 predicts lower marital quality in 2012 regardless of whether the viewer felt pornography use was always immoral. However, among pornography viewers, the negative association between marital quality and viewing frequency is stronger for those who morally oppose pornography. Findings hold regardless of gender. Data limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Pornography, preference for porn‐like sex, masturbation, and men's sexual and relationship satisfaction

“…For example, Wright, Sun, et al's () recent path analysis underscores the role that perceiving pornography to be a valid source of sexual information plays in the relationship between pornography use and sexual dissatisfaction, and research conducted by Blais‐Lecours et al () highlights the importance of pornography use‐related distress to sexual satisfaction. Work by Perry () suggests that one's opinion on the morality of pornography may moderate the relationship between pornography use and relationship quality, and as mentioned above, it is possible that the degree to which one's sexual partner is accommodating of one's sexual preferences may act to moderate the indirect effect of pornography use on sexual satisfaction through preference for porn‐like sex.…”

“…However, this study did not detect a relationship between husbands' pornography use and sexual satisfaction in either direction. More recently, a large, nationally representative sample of married U.S. adults found that men's pornography use was predictive of self‐reported marriage quality at a 6‐year follow up (Perry, , ). In addition, there is some experimental evidence to indicate that pornography exposure negatively impacts satisfaction with one's sexual partner's physical appearance, sexual curiosity, and sexual performance (Zillmann & Bryant, ).…”