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.
Korean Men’s Pornography use, Their Interest in Extreme Pornography, and Dyadic Sexual Relationships
Authors: Chyng Sun, Ekra Miezan, Na-Young Lee, Jae Woong Shim
Published: 2015
Peer-Reviewed Journal: International Journal of Sexual Health
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the connections between pornography use (both frequency and interest in extreme pornography) and dyadic sexual relationships.
Methods: Six-hundred eighty-five heterosexual South Korean male college students participated in an online survey.
Results: The majority (84.5%) of respondents had viewed pornography, and for those who were sexually active (470 respondents), we found that higher interest in degrading or extreme pornography was associated with the experience of role-playing sexual scenes from pornography with a partner, and a preference for using pornography to achieve and maintain sexual excitement over having sex with a partner.
Conclusions: The findings were consistent but with differences from a U.S. study with the same methodology, suggesting that attention should be paid to cultural differences.
Background
To our knowledge, no existing studies investigate the role that pornography plays during dyadic sexual encounters.
To fill that gap, this study investigates pornography use among Korean male college students and how the rate of exposure and interest in the more extreme forms of pornography associate with their sexual concerns, enjoyment of sexual intimacy, preference for using pornography to obtain or maintain sexual excitement, and integration of pornography into their dyadic sexual activities.
Methods
This project was part of a collaborative, multisite study of culture and sexual behavior conducted by a consortium of international, cross-disciplinary scholars from the fields of communication, psychology, and sociology…. Data for the current study were drawn from a larger multinational study of culture, pornography use, and sexual behavior.
Participants in this study were 685 heterosexual male young men (ages 18–32 years) residing in the Republic of Korea, and the majority of them (85.4%, N = 585) were college students.
Results
In our study, we found that Korean men’s first exposure to pornography took place early in life. Of the entire sample of 685 participants (including 15.5% who did not answer whether they had ever viewed pornography), 72% stated that they viewed pornography by the age of 15 years, and the Internet was cited as the most common source….
The preference for using pornography to obtain or maintain sexual excitement is apparent as well. It can be argued that the degrading or extreme type of pornography sparks more “novel” and intense stimulation and heightens arousal (Zillmann & Bryant, 1986). Thus, people who are interested in this type of pornography may find regular sexual activities to be mundane, bland, and less stimulating, and therefore, they have a strong preference for pornography over real sex.
We also found that Korean men who were in more committed relationships also tended to prefer pornography for sexual excitement. It is possible that men who have sex with a committed partner over time may find that those sexual experiences become routine and that, in comparison, pornography’s endless supply of new women and sexual acts seems more exciting and arousing. We also found that older men tended to prefer pornography for sexual excitement….
In regard to integrating pornography into real sex, Korean men who used more pornography for masturbation had a tendency to watch pornography with their sexual partners. It is understandable that men who are more interested in pornography that is degrading or extreme may be reluctant to show their female partners what they like to watch, knowing that those materials may cause their female partners discomfort or even make them think ill of them. At the same time, men who are in noncommitted relationships tend to view pornography with their partners more than do men who are in committed relationships….
Korean men who are in committed relationships tend to make such requests more than do men in noncommitted relationships. This may suggest that in a committed relationship, a Korean man may feel more comfortable requesting from his partner new sexual activities from pornographic scenes, that both partners may have better communication on sex, and that pornography use has less relevance to sexual communication between the couple.
It is then particularly interesting that men who watch more pornography for masturbation and men who have a higher interest in watching degrading or extreme pornography both had a tendency to role-play a scene with their partners. It can be argued that some popular “plots” or “scripts” can be seen in all pornography across all genres, such as men and women playing the roles of adult men/cheerleaders, male teachers/schoolgirls, male masters/maids, male bosses/secretaries, or male patients-male doctors/female nurses.
Thus, men who either watch a lot of pornography or who are interested in degrading or extreme pornography would likely be familiar with these types of roles and scripts. It may not be surprising that they would role-play with their partners to actualize what they learned from pornography.
The full study can be accessed here.
