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.
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.
A recent survey found that over 60% of adult porn consumers agree that depictions of physical violence are normalized in online pornography and contribute to the normalization of violent sexual behavior in the real world.
According to a 2020 report, approximately 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys aged 13-17 report sharing their own nudes, despite the fact that those images are legally considered “child pornography”.
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.
Researchers have found that representations of step-relationships in porn titles were actually less common than depictions of blood relationships, with the majority of incest-themed titles describing sexual activity between immediate family members.
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.
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.
Because of desensitization, many porn consumers find themselves consuming more porn, consuming more often, or consuming more extreme forms of pornography.
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