If you didn’t already know, Fight the New Drug (FTND) is a non-religious and non-legislative nonprofit that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.
We create resources that aim to educate about porn and its impacts, but what kind of impact have these resources had? Are people actually learning about the harmful effects of porn when they read our articles, watch our documentary series, see our social media posts, listen to our podcast, and engage with our content?
In order to better understand the general public’s awareness of porn’s risks as well as the efficacy of FTND’s educational resources, we developed The Porn Impacts Awareness Survey.
In addition to gathering demographic information, the survey also consisted of a knowledge assessment—The Porn Impacts Awareness Test—to gauge how well survey respondents understood the potential effects of pornography based on the current state of academic literature on the topic.
The survey was administered to both FTND followers and to a comparative sample from the general population.
The Porn Impacts Awareness Report: Comparative Findings from FTND Followers and the General Public
Results indicate that while the general public is mostly unaware or misinformed about the potential effects of pornography, FTND resources are very effective at educating people on porn’s potential risks, thereby empowering them to make more informed decisions.
Survey population samples
Let’s take a look at some of the more notable findings from our survey.
To read a more in-depth report about our survey, click here.
Most people are unaware or misinformed about the potential risks associated with porn consumption
The first aim of this study was to determine how aware the general public is of the risks associated with pornography, as identified in peer-reviewed research. To assess this on an overall level, we examined respondents’ scores from the general public dataset on The Porn Impacts Awareness Test (PIAT).
We found that the average score in the general public sample was only 45%. In fact, only 10.2% of public respondents received a score of 70% or above, while 56.1% scored below 50%. Perhaps even more concerning was that more than 1 in 5 (21.2%) general public respondents answered less than 30% of the questions correctly, and nearly 1 in 7 (13.1%) scored below 20%.
These findings raise significant concerns about the current levels of pornography risk awareness in the United States. The fact that the average respondent in a national sample of adults was not able to answer even half of the questions correctly shows that there is a troubling gap in most people’s understanding of the level of risk they are assuming when they view pornography, particularly if they begin to view it in frequent and obsessive ways.
Test results, FTND Followers vs. General Public
While this is troubling for all people, it is particularly concerning that teens and young adults are making decisions about pornography in their lives while lacking a full understanding of how it may impact their relationships, mental health, and future well-being.
As a non-legislative organization, we are not working to take away the rights of adults who consume legal and consensual forms of pornography. Rather, our goal is to enable people to make an informed decision regarding pornography.
As it stands, it would seem that few individuals are making informed decisions regarding their pornography habits, given that most don’t seem to be fully aware of the potential risks.
FTND Followers vs. General Public test scores
Fight the New Drug is very effective in educating individuals on the risks of pornography
This study also aimed at determining whether or not FTND’s educational efforts are effective in teaching followers about the substantiated harms of pornography. Again, to evaluate this on an overall level, we examined the percentage of questions answered correctly by our sample of FTND followers on the PIAT.
We found that the average score of FTND followers was 86%—41% higher than the average score in the general public sample. This means that the average level of porn risk awareness among FTND followers is nearly twice as high as the general public.
It is also noteworthy that nearly 1 in 4 (23.1%) FTND followers scored above 90%, with none (0%) of them scoring below 50%.
No FTND followers had a fail test score
This indicates that FTND is very effectively educating its followers on the research-backed risks associated with porn consumption, thereby empowering them to make more informed decisions, as is part of our mission.
Respondents in the general population who agreed that porn can be harmful scored equally as low as the rest of the general population, indicating that FTND followers’ high scores reflect more than just agreement.
Fight the New Drug provides accessible content that serves multiple audiences
We were pleased to find that there was only a 9% difference in the average correct response rate between FTND followers with only some high school education (78%) compared to those who have a graduate degree (87%)—and that FTND followers with only some high school education still scored 33% higher than the average respondent from the general public survey.
There was only a 5% difference between FTND followers with a high school diploma (82%) and FTND followers with a college degree (87%).
This means that FTND is producing educational content that is effective yet accessible to a wide range of people regardless of age or education.
Ultimately, there were no major differences in scores across age groups of FTND followers, and there were no significant differences between the scores of respondents who identify as male, those who identify as female, or non-binary respondents.
Scores did not significantly differ depending on respondents’ primary motivations for following FTND (i.e., those trying to quit porn compared to those who have been hurt by a partner’s porn habit).
This means that FTND is successfully helping to educate a wide range of people in a variety of life circumstances and with different motivations to learn. That’s great news!
Fight the New Drug successfully teaches followers using a variety of equally-effective educational approaches
Fight the New Drug uses a wide range of approaches to share its material. Because of this, we were interested in evaluating whether any of FTND’s educational approaches appear to be more effective in helping followers achieve higher levels of porn risk awareness.
Results indicated that FTND is effectively educating followers through a variety of educational approaches, and no single method or approach appears to be significantly more successful than others.
Much of this is due to the fact that FTND focuses on sharing similar research, facts, and personal accounts in all of its educational materials, so followers are likely to achieve similarly high levels of porn risk awareness through a variety of means.
Whether that awareness comes from reading articles on the FTND website, engaging with FTND’s social media posts, or watching the Brain, Heart, World documentary series, it appears that each of these methods effectively teaches followers about the risks of pornography.
We did find that there are a few factors that are statistically associated with slightly higher levels of porn risk awareness among FTND followers. For example, we found that if a person follows FTND for longer, they are slightly more likely to have a higher level of porn risk awareness.
To read a more in-depth report about our survey, click here.
FTND is successfully educating people
While it is concerning to note that the majority of people in the general population seem to be unaware or misinformed about the potential effects of consuming pornography, the findings of our survey also provide strong evidence that FTND’s materials and resources are able to successfully educate a variety of audiences on the risks associated with pornography.
Whether through social media, our documentary series, podcast episodes, or live presentations, these findings suggest that FTND’s educational materials successfully speak to a wide range of audiences with a wide range of needs and beliefs.
As a result, FTND is successfully achieving its mission to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.
If you’d like to support our efforts to continue educating individuals around the world, please consider becoming a monthly supporter with Fighter Club, or making a one-time donation.
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