In the last seven years, the UK government’s filtering system has blocked hundreds of thousands of attempts to access porn sites on the British Parliament’s estate.
One guy in Baltimore got fired for watching 39 hours of porn on his work computer over a two-week period.
And in another high-profile firing, a University of Miami professor was let go when students spotted a porn bookmark in his browser during a Zoom lecture in which the instructor shared his screen.
These kinds of stories are seemingly endless in our current culture, and they illustrate how non-working hours are not the only time people are watching porn.
But what’s the data? How common is watching porn at work, really? And why do people do it?
Watching porn on the job
One global survey of 2,000 people for Sugarcookie, a digital lifestyle magazine, revealed more than 60% of people questioned had watched porn at work.
Another survey by security giant Kaspersky showed the number was similar for remote workers: more than half of those surveyed admitted to watching adult content on devices they also used for work-related tasks.
According to 2021 data from PornHub, 10:00pm to 1:00am is the most common hour of porn viewership, but the second most popular time frame for porn-watching is 4:00pm.
(Note that it is not specified which time zone this is in.)
Pornhub Insights
The stories are clearly supported by the data—porn use at work is more common than we might think, but why?
Why do people feel the need to look at porn at 4:00pm, when they’re about an hour away from being able to view it on their own time at home?
Why is porn viewed at work?
Craig Jackson, a professor of occupational health psychology at Birmingham City University in the UK, recently told the BBC that, while people tend to think that those viewing porn during work “are somehow secretly masturbating at the desk or they’re disappearing off to the toilets to masturbate,” porn actually is “more of a distraction” for viewers. (Disclaimer: Fight the New Drug exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using science, facts, and personal accounts—as an organization, we do not have a stance on masturbation or have resources on this topic.)
In fact, Jackson noted that watching porn might be a way that viewers cope with stress—especially given that “many workers in organizations feel faceless. In the absence of good leadership, they feel overlooked, underutilized, under-challenged, under-promoted” with “mundane and unpleasant” work experiences.
Addiction therapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy Paula Hall also suggested that, while for some it may be a way to solve boredom, for others it’s a “reward.”
“They’ve just got a sale, had a win, they’ve just finished a piece of work online and it’s a treat,” she told BBC. “We might have a cup of coffee and a cake…somebody else might watch pornography.”
Whether a fix for boredom or a reward for good performance, Jackson puts it simply: if it feels “good” and there aren’t “immediate negative consequences,” people will “do it again and again and again and again.”
But this is where many people likely don’t have the full picture—there absolutely can be tangible negative impacts of watching porn, on or off the work clock.
The negative effects of watching porn at work
The obvious impact of getting caught watching porn at work is that it never seems to end well for the worker—just ask the University of Miami professor. But even for those who don’t end up getting caught, porn can impact so much more than someone’s job performance and negatively affect more than a business’ outputs and profits.
Wendy Patrick, a career trial attorney in San Diego, California, who writes about the effects of porn-watching in the workplace, says the personal impact is pretty intense and broad and can pave the way for toxic workplaces.
“Pornography often includes dehumanizing sexual scripts,” she told the BBC. “Internalizing this orientation through repeated exposure can decrease the enjoyment and productivity of workplace relationships, sometimes leading to insensitive, inappropriate interactions.”
In the worst cases, she says, this could lead to sexual harassment, particularly toward women, and Jackson’s research into employment tribunals tends to support this idea. Jackson says there are growing numbers of cases in which women’s workplace experiences have been affected by “male attitudes to porn, sharing porn or accidentally letting porn ‘slip’ so that other people see it.”
Moreover, there’s existing psychological research that indicates engagement in unethical work behavior (ie. watching porn) can be a slippery slope that is linked to increasingly risky habits.
Why this matters
For some who believe watching porn is worth losing their job, that could indicate how those consumers are increasingly dependent on it. Porn may make people feel good temporarily, and not seem to have immediate negative consequences, but the negative impacts do exist.
In addition to all the negative ramifications discussed above, porn can become addictive and can alter the brain of the consumer, regardless of the reason they’re watching it. It can have very real negative effects on coworkers, but also intimate relationships, including negatively impacting the sexual health and understanding of consumers. Viewing porn also affects mental health—consumers have been shown to be more prone to depression and anxiety.
Whether on or off the job, porn is anything but harmless entertainment, and if you need help to stop watching porn, there’s hope.
Need help?
For those reading this who feel they are struggling with pornography, you are not alone. Check out Fortify, a science-based recovery platform dedicated to helping you find lasting freedom from pornography. Fortify now offers a free experience for both teens and adults. Connect with others, learn about your unwanted porn habit, and track your recovery journey. There is hope—sign up today.
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