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How Much Does the General Public Know About the Effects of Watching Porn?

Most people in the general public seem to be unaware or misinformed about porn's effects, but people who follow Fight the New Drug are much, much more educated and aware.

By November 16, 2022No Comments
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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 articleswatch our documentary seriessee our social media postslisten to our podcast, and engage with our content?

Related: Why Fight the New Drug’s Goal Doesn’t Involve Banning Porn

Comparing Fight the New Drug followers versus the general public, who understands the research better?

We tested 2,500 people—about 1,000 Fight the New Drug (FTND) followers and about 1,500 general public respondents—to see how well they understood the potential effects of porn, as shown in research. Here’s what we found:

Most people in the general public seem to be unaware or misinformed about porn’s effects.

Related: Is Fight the New Drug Actually Raising Awareness on Porn’s Harms?

The average score in the general public sample was only 45%. In other words, the average person can’t even answer half of the questions about porn’s effects correctly.

Plus, only 10% of the general public received a “passing” score of 70% or above.

Click here to read the full impact report.

FTND followers tend to be very well-educated on the potential effects of porn.

When questioned about the credible research on porn’s impacts, the average score of FTND followers was 86%—nearly double the average score of the general public.

Not only that, but none scored below 50%, and 1 in 4 scored above 90%.

Scores show actual knowledge, not just shared perspective.

Now maybe you’re thinking, FTND followers just scored higher because they already agree that porn is harmful. But respondents in the general population who agreed that porn is harmful still had similarly low scores as the rest of the general population.

Related: 10 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Fight the New Drug

This shows that FTND followers’ higher scores reflect more than just agreement.

FTND followers score well, regardless of why they’re a Fighter.

People follow FTND for a variety of reasons—some are trying to quit porn, some have been hurt by a partner’s habit, others are educators or activists, etc.

Regardless of their reasons, all groups of FTND followers scored equally high on the test.

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FTND followers score well, regardless of age or education level.

There was only a 9% difference between scores of FTND followers with only some high school education and those who have a graduate degree.

Even FTND followers with only some high school education still scored 33% higher than the general public on average.

Related: How Far Your Donation Goes with Fight the New Drug

FTND followers better understand the harms of porn and of shame.

Some critics argue that raising awareness on porn’s harms is counterproductive because it shames consumers. But these survey results show that FTND followers are actually better educated on the harms of shame and its connections to fueling porn habits than the general public.

Informed decisions can’t happen without quality information. That’s why we’re proud to say that we are effectively educating people on porn’s risks using science, facts, and personal accounts.

Click here to read the full impact report.

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Thanks for reading our article! Fight the New Drug is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means the educational resources we create are made possible through donations from people like you. Join Fighter Club for as little as $10/month and help us educate on the harms of porn!

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