Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
Research suggests that pornography can make young people more sexually illiterate —in other words, it’s actively spreading harmful misinformation about sex.
Porn consumption is linked to poorer relationship quality.
Porn consumers tend to be more accepting of cheating.
A 2017 poll found that the more porn a man consumes, the more likely he is to be dissatisfied with his penis size. And the same goes for women with male partners— the more porn they consume, the less satisfied they are with their partner’s penis size.
One study that kept track of couples over time found that consuming porn was the second strongest predictor that a relationship would suffer.
Some frequent porn consumers can become so accustomed to the exaggerated forms of sex they see in porn, that they may have a difficult time becoming aroused in real-life sexual encounters unless porn is also present.
Porn consumption is linked to increased loneliness.
Research indicates that young people often feel pressured to imitate porn when having sex.
Research indicates that only 18.3% of women in popular porn videos (compared to 78% of men) were depicted as reaching climax.
According to a 2016 study, people who view porn regularly are less likely to get married than those who do not. Researchers suggest this may be because consumers see porn as a substitute for sexual gratification in a relationship.
Research shows that even individuals who are accepting of pornography tend to experience psychological distress when their own partners consume pornography.
Research shows that people who consume porn tend to later experience lower relationship satisfaction.
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