Fast Facts - Fight the New Drug

(Perry, 2017)

One study that kept track of couples over time found that consuming porn was the second strongest predictor that a relationship would suffer.

Citations

Perry S. L. (2017). Does Viewing Pornography Reduce Marital Quality Over Time? Evidence from Longitudinal Data. Archives of sexual behavior, 46(2), 549–559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0770-y

Read More

How Porn Can Negatively Impact Love And Intimacy

Fast Fact #53

(Volkow, Koob, & McLellan, 2016)

Some experts have determined four major brain changes common to addicted brains—sensitization, desensitization, hypofrontality, and a malfunctioning stress system— all of which can be found in cases of pornography consumption.

Citations

Volkow, N. D., Koob, G. F., & McLellan, A. T. (2016). Neurobiologic advances from the brain disease model of addiction. N Engl J Med, 374(4), 363-371. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1511480

Read More

Fast Fact #15

(Banca, Morris, Mitchell, Harrison, Potenza, & Voon, 2016; Kühn & Gallinat, 2014)

Desensitization, or a numbed pleasure response, has been shown to happen in cases of pornography consumption.

Citations

Banca, P., Morris, L. S., Mitchell, S., Harrison, N. A., Potenza, M. N., & Voon, V. (2016). Novelty, conditioning and attentional bias to sexual rewards. Journal of psychiatric research, 72, 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.10.017
Kühn, S., & Gallinat, J. (2014). Brain structure and functional connectivity associated with pornography consumption: The brain on porn. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(7), 827-834. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.93

Read More

How Porn Can Become An Escalating Behavior

Fast Fact #7

(Hald, Malamuth, & Lange, 2013; Seabrook, Ward, & Giaccardi, 2019)

Research indicates that porn can fuel sexist attitudes in porn consumers.

Citations

Hald, G. M., Malamuth, N. N., & Lange, T. (2013). Pornography and sexist attitudes among heterosexuals. Journal of Communication, 63(4), 638-660. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12037
Seabrook, R. C., Ward, L. M., & Giaccardi, S. (2019). Less than human? Media use, objectification of women, and men’s acceptance of sexual aggression. Psychology of Violence, 9(5), 536–545. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000198

Read More

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

Fast Fact #92

(Fritz, Malic, Paul, & Zhou, 2020)

Research shows that women are almost always the targets of violence or aggression in porn —about 97% of the time.

Citations

Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0

Read More

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

Fast Fact #61

(Martellozzo, Monaghan, Adler, Davidson, Leyva, & Horvath, 2016)

Over 46% of young people reported that they saw online porn for the first time when it just “popped up”, and 22% reported that someone else showed it to them when they weren’t expecting it.

Citations

Martellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J.R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M.A.H. (2016). 'I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it'. A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. London: Middlesex University. NSPCC. Retrieved from https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1187/mdx-nspcc-occ-pornography-report.pdf

Read More

Fast Fact #23

(Rothman, Beckmeyer, Herbenick, Fu, Dodge, & Fortenberry, 2021)

Results of a survey of young adults show that 1 in 4 (24.5%) listed pornography as the most helpful source to learn how to have sex.

Citations

Rothman, E. F., Beckmeyer, J. J., Herbenick, D., Fu, T. C., Dodge, B., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2021). The Prevalence of Using Pornography for Information About How to Have Sex: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey of U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults. Archives of sexual behavior, 50(2), 629–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01877-7

Read More

How Porn Can Distort Consumers’ Understanding Of Healthy Sex

Fast Fact #26

(Skorska, Hodson, & Hoffarth, 2018; Zhou, Liu, Yan, & Paul, 2021)

Research shows that people who consume porn frequently are more likely to objectify and dehumanize others.

Citations

Skorska, M.N., Hodson, G., & Hoffarth, M.R. (2018). Experimental effects of degrading versus erotic pornography exposure in men on reactions toward women (objectification, sexism, discrimination). The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 27, 261 – 276.
Zhou, Y., Liu, T., Yan, Y., & Paul, B. (2021). Pornography use, two forms of dehumanization, and sexual aggression: Attitudes vs. behaviors. J.Sex Marital Ther., 1-20. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2021.1923598

Read More

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

Fast Fact #75

(Perry, 2018; Perry & Davis, 2017; Perry & Schleifer, 2018)

Research consistently shows that porn consumers are twice as likely to later experience a divorce or breakup —even after controlling for marital happiness, sexual satisfaction, and other relevant factors.

Citations

Perry, S. L. (2018). Pornography use and marital separation: Evidence from two-wave panel data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(6), 1869-1880. doi:10.1007/s10508-017-1080-8
Perry, S. L., & Davis, J. T. (2017). Are pornography users more likely to experience a romantic breakup? Evidence from longitudinal data. Sexuality & Culture, 21(4), 1157-1176. doi:10.1007/s12119-017-9444-8
Perry, S. L., & Schleifer, C. (2018). Till porn do us part? A longitudinal examination of pornography use and divorce. 55(3), 284-296. doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1317709

Read More

How Porn Can Negatively Impact Love And Intimacy

Fast Fact #34

(TVPA, 2000)

If a porn performer is tricked, manipulated, or coerced during the production of porn, that is legally defined as sex trafficking.

Citations

Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106–386, Section 102(a), 114 Stat. 1464. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-106hr3244enr/pdf/BILLS-106hr3244enr.pdf

Read More

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

Fast Fact #95

(Davis, Carrotte, Hellard, & Lim, 2018)

A 2018 study found that an estimated 1 in 3 young Australians reported being repeatedly exposed to violent depictions of sex in porn within the last year of their lives.

Citations

Davis, A. C., Carrotte, E. R., Hellard, M. E., & Lim, M. S. C. (2018). What behaviors do young heterosexual Australians see in pornography? A cross-sectional study. 55(3), 310-319. doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1417350

Read More

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

Fast Fact #68

(Martellozzo, Monaghan, Adler, Davidson, Leyva, & Horvath, 2016)

Of the adolescents who had been exposed to porn, 28% were first exposed by accident, 19% were unexpectedly shown pornography by someone else, and only 19% searched for it intentionally, according to research by the NSPCC.

Citations

Martellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J.R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M.A.H. (2016). 'I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it'. A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. London: Middlesex University. NSPCC. Retrieved from https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1187/mdx-nspcc-occ-pornography-report.pdf

Read More

Fast Fact #24

(Vera-Gray, McGlynn, Kureshi, & Butterby, 2021)

Research indicates that “hidden cam” videos are a common theme on porn sites, making it difficult to determine which videos are consensual and which are not.

Citations

Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology, doi:10.1093/bjc/azab035

Read More

Fast Fact #89

(Bouché, 2015)

According to one report on domestic minor sex trafficking, survivors indicate that they were sometimes “advertised” on porn sites.

Citations

Bouché, V. (2015). A report on the use of technology to recruit, groom and sell domestic minor sex trafficking victims. Thorn. Retrieved from https://www.thorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Survivor_Survey_r5.pdf

Read More

Fast Fact #109

(Tylka & Kroon Van Diest, 2015)

A study of women in relationships with men who consume porn found that the frequency of the man’s porn consumption was negatively correlated with the woman’s sense of self-esteem, level of relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction.

Citations

Tylka, T. L., & Kroon Van Diest, A. M. (2015). You Looking at Her “Hot” Body May Not be “Cool” for Me: Integrating Male Partners’ Pornography Use into Objectification Theory for Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 39(1), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684314521784

Read More

How Porn Can Hurt A Consumer’s Partner

Fast Fact #43

©Fight the New Drug, Inc. 2025, All rights Reserved. Fight the New Drug is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN: 26-3550143

Fight the New Drug, PO Box 522378, Salt Lake City, UT 84152 | Fight the New Drug is a part of the PHASE Alliance™.