Decades of studies from respected academic institutions, have demonstrated significant impacts of porn consumption for individuals, relationships, and society. "What’s the Research" aims to shed light on the expanding field of academic resources that showcase porn’s harms in a variety of ways. Below are selected excerpts from published studies on this issue.
The full study can be accessed here.
Authors: Yang, D., Youn, G.
Published May 2012
Abstract
This study examined whether exposure to pornography lead to aggression, utilizing pornographic video excerpts and measuring participants’ aggression by the number of human faces chosen as targets during a dart-throwing decision task.
Methods
Male college students (n = 120) were randomly assigned into one of three experimental groups who viewed the sexually explicit material (nonviolent, sadomasochistic, or violent pornography) or to a control group who viewed nonsexual, nonviolent material. Each participant could then behave aggressively, or not, in a dart-throwing decision task offering pictures of human faces as possible targets.
Results
The facilitative effect of aggression was significant for all three groups exposed to pornography. The effect was especially conspicuous for those groups exposed to violent pornography. All subjects were also more likely to target female faces than male faces.