Pornography Use: Who Uses It and How It Is Associated with Couple Outcomes

Abstract

Very little is known about how pornography use is related to the quality of committed relationships. This study examined associations among pornography use, the meaning people attach to its use, sexual quality, and relationship satisfaction. It also looked at factors that discriminate between those who use pornography and those who do not. Participants were couples (N = 617 couples) who were either married or cohabiting at the time the data were gathered. Overall results from this study indicated substantial gender differences in terms of use profiles, as well as pornography's association with relationship factors. Specifically, male pornography use was negatively associated with both male and female sexual quality, whereas female pornography use was positively associated with female sexual quality. The study also found that meaning explained a relatively small part of the relationship between pornography use and sexual quality.

The Role of Internet Pornography Use and Cyber Infidelity in the Associations between Personality, Attachment, and Couple and Sexual Satisfaction

“…Muusses et al [48] have stated that men's pornography use is associated with low couple satisfaction and sexual satisfaction, which supports findings by Landripet and Štulhofer [50]. Women's use of pornography is linked to greater marital satisfaction [11] for both partners [2]. The combined results of these studies form the basis of the present model, which proposes that pornography use explains couple and sexual dissatisfaction through cyber infidelity.…”

“…Although adults in romantic relationships currently show more openness to online sexual behaviors [1], these behaviors can nevertheless increase couple conflicts and instability [2]. In the current study, we assess the mediating role of Internet pornography use and cyber infidelity in the relationship between 1) personality and attachment, and 2) couple and sexual satisfaction.…”

Psychosocial Determinants of Internet Sex Addiction: The Moderating Role of Gender

“…Dane wskazują ponadto na istotne powiązania między korzystaniem z seksu internetowego a niską oceną jakości relacji partnerskich oraz jakości współżycia seksualnego (Poulsen, Busby, Galovan 2013). Jednocześnie stwierdza się, że ryzyko uzależnienia od seksu internetowego jest szczególnie wysokie wśród ofiar przemocy seksualnej doznanej w przeszłości, osób o niskiej samoocenie oraz uzależnionych od seksu (Carnes i in.…”

Unbuckling the Bible Belt: A State-level Analysis of Religious Factors and Google Searches for Porn

“…Consequently, religious groups, and most prominently conservative Protestants in the American context, strongly discourage any type of pornography, viewing it as a form of fornication that rouses and facilitates sexual desires about persons outside of marriage and encourages solo-masturbation (Driscoll, 2009;Sherkat & Ellison, 1997). It is unsurprising, then, that studies of religion's relationship to porn viewing among American adults consistently find that those who report greater religious commitment (measured in a variety of ways) or who hold theologically conservative identities and beliefs are more likely to report either not viewing pornography at all (Doran & Price, 2014;Grubbs et al, 2015;Maddox, Rhoades, & Markman, 2011;Nelson, Padilla-Walker, & Carroll, 2010;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry, 2016b;Stack, Wasserman, & Kern., 2004;Wright, 2013;Wright, Bae, & Funk, 2013) or doing so less frequently than others (Baltazar, Helm, McBride, Hopkins, & Stevens, 2010;Bridges & Morokoff, 2011;Carroll, Padilla-Walker, Nelson, Olson, Barry, & Madsen, 2008;Hardy, Steelman, Coyne, & Ridge, 2013;Perry, 2016c;Poulsen, Busby, & Galovan, 2013;Short, Kasper, & Wetterneck, 2015). …”