Fast Facts Archive - Fight the New Drug

(Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, Sun, & Liberman, 2010)

Researchers have found that approximately 95% of the targets of violence or aggression in porn appeared either neutral to the abuse, or were depicted as responding with pleasure.

Citations

Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., & Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: a content analysis update. Violence against women, 16(10), 1065–1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Rothman, Kaczmarsky, Burke, Jansen, & Baughman, 2015)

Qualitative research reveals that young women often feel pressured to play out the “scripts” their male partners had learned from porn —they feel badgered into having sex in uncomfortable positions, faking sexual responses, and consenting to unpleasant or painful acts.

Citations

Rothman, E. F., Kaczmarsky, C., Burke, N., Jansen, E., & Baughman, A. (2015). 'Without Porn … I Wouldn't Know Half the Things I Know Now': A Qualitative Study of Pornography Use Among a Sample of Urban, Low-Income, Black and Hispanic Youth. Journal of sex research, 52(7), 736–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.960908

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(BBFC, 2020)

The majority of young people are exposed to porn by the time they’re 13, according to research involving young people in the UK.

Citations

British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFC. Retrieved from https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/research

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(Sniewski, Farvid, & Carter, 2018)

Research has found that therapy is an effective way to treat problematic pornography consumption.

Citations

Sniewski, L., Farvid, P., & Carter, P. (2018). The assessment and treatment of adult heterosexual men with self-perceived problematic pornography use: A review. Addictive behaviors, 77, 217–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.10.010

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(Xian, Chock, & Dwiggins, 2017)

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.

Citations

Xian, K., Chock, S., & Dwiggins, D. (2017). LGBTQ youth and vulnerability to sex trafficking. In M. Chisolm-Straker, & H. Stoklosa (Eds.), Human trafficking is a public health issue: A paradigm expansion in the United States (pp. 141). Switzerland: Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47824-1 Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-47824-1.pdf

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

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(End Revenge Porn, 2014)

According to one survey of nonconsensual pornography victims, 51% reported having suicidal thoughts due to the image-based abuse, and 93% reported experiencing severe emotional distress.

Citations

End Revenge Porn (2014). Revenge porn statistics. Civil Cyber Rights Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.cybercivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RPStatistics.pdf

How The Porn Industry Profits From Nonconsensual Content And Abuse

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(Séguin, Rodrigue, & Lavigne, 2018)

Research indicates that only 18.3% of women in popular porn videos (compared to 78% of men) were depicted as reaching climax.

Citations

Séguin, L. J., Rodrigue, C., & Lavigne, J. (2018). Consuming Ecstasy: Representations of Male and Female Orgasm in Mainstream Pornography. Journal of sex research, 55(3), 348–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1332152

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Brown, Durtschi, Carroll, & Willoughby, 2017)

People who use porn as a self-soothing technique tend to have some of the lowest reports of emotional and mental wellbeing according to a 2017 study.

Citations

Brown, C. C., Durtschi, J. A., Carroll, J. S., & Willoughby, B. J. (2017). Understanding and predicting classes of college students who use pornography. Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 114-121. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.09.008

How Porn Can Impact Mental Health and Fuel Loneliness

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(BBFC, 2020)

Nearly 1 in 5 sexually active 16- to 17-year-olds said they had either asked or been asked to incorporate acts from porn into their sexual experiences, according to a 2020 report from the UK.

Citations

British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFC. Retrieved from https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/research

How Porn Can Distort Consumers’ Understanding Of Healthy Sex

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(Rasmussen, 2016)

Porn consumers tend to be more accepting of cheating.

Citations

Rasmussen, K. (2016). A historical and empirical review of pornography and romantic relationships: Implications for family researchers. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(2), 173-191. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12141

How Porn Can Negatively Impact Love And Intimacy

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(Young, 2013; Nathanson, 2021)

Research has demonstrated that overcoming a pornography habit is absolutely possible, and that over time, pornography’s negative effects can be managed and largely reversed.

Citations

Young K. S. (2013). Treatment outcomes using CBT-IA with Internet-addicted patients. Journal of behavioral addictions, 2(4), 209–215. https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.2.2013.4.3
Nathanson, A. (2021). Psychotherapy with young people addicted to internet pornography. Psychoanal. Study Child, 74(1), 160-173. doi:10.1080/00797308.2020.1859286

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(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

How Porn Can Become An Escalating Behavior

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