Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
Porn consumption is associated with lower self-esteem.
Research shows that porn consumption is a significant predictor of sexual entitlement.
In a 2016 study, researchers found that 46.9% of respondents reported that, over time, they began watching pornography that had previously disinterested or even disgusted them.
Over 90% of police officers report that self-generated intimate images of minors are common in their investigations of CSEM.
LGBTQ+ youth who are rejected because of their sexual orientation or gender identity are particularly vulnerable to potential psychological/emotional manipulation by traffickers or predators who may take advantage of them.
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.
Desensitization, or a numbed pleasure response, has been shown to happen in cases of pornography consumption.
Research suggests that porn can influence women to be more submissive in sexual encounters.
Research assessing the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in treating porn addiction found that “over 95% of clients were able to manage symptoms at the end of the twelve weeks and 78% sustained recovery six months following treatment.”
Longitudinal, qualitative research has found that young people's narratives surrounding anal sex often encourage coercion, pain, and other risky behaviors, and that they often attribute these narratives to pornography, as it can normalize sexual behaviors and attitudes.
Only 4% of women who were casually dating men reported that their partner regularly consumed porn, when in reality, 50% of the men who were casually dating reported that they regularly consumed porn.
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.
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