We could tell you hundreds of stories – and survey many ways in which hundreds of thousands report pornography impacting their lives.
For now, here are three sets of studies that do the job just as well:
- There are over 55 studies linking pornography addiction use to lower relationship and sexual satisfaction (representing most of the available research literature in this area).
- There are also 24 studies linking porn use/sex addiction to a wide-range of sexual issues, including lower arousalto sexual stimuli.
- There are over 45 studies link porn use to poorer mental-emotional health & poorer cognitive outcomes.
Furthermore, there are currently 13 recent literature reviews that document significant risks involved in pornography consumption. These include papers from institutions such as Cambridge and Yale Universities.
Is there any evidence for porn affecting other people?
Big time. Those can be classified into two areas: impacts on direct participants in porn and impacts on people surrounding the porn user.
- Porn participants. Specific to the porn performers, there are six studies confirming mental and physical health problems of women participating in porn.
- Love ones of a porn user. There are over 25 studies link porn use to “un-egalitarian attitudes” toward women. And there are a full 50 peer-reviewed studies directly linking porn use to sexual violence.
Does this mean that anyone who uses porn will become aggressive or demeaning towards women? Of course not.
But it does mean there is a definitive connection between porn use and the (general) increase in demeaning and aggressive behavior. Learn more about potential porn addiction side effects and how to avoid them.
