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 routinely shows that consuming porn is connected to poorer mental health.
Research shows that porn consumers are more likely to forward intimate images without consent. Researchers suggest this may be because regular porn consumers tend to develop sexually objectifying attitudes towards others.
Pornography is the 2nd-most common form of sex trafficking, according to cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Porn consumers tend to be more accepting of cheating.
Even quitting porn for a short time can lessen its negative effects and have positive effects on consumers' lives and relationships.
A 2014 brain-imaging study found that men who reported watching more pornography had less gray matter in a brain region involved in reward processing, reduced responses to sexual cues, and weaker connectivity with the prefrontal cortex.
In comparison to couples who never viewed porn, a 2011 study found that those who watched porn alone reported twice the rate of cheating, and individuals who viewed porn alone and with their partners reported three times the rate of cheating.
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.”
Over half of 11 to 16-year-old boys (53%) and over a third of 11 to 16-year-old girls (39%) reported believing that pornography was a realistic depiction of sex, according to a 2016 report.
According to a report of prosecuted sex trafficking cases in the U.S., the majority of coercive tactics used by traffickers (59%) were non-physical, compared to 41% of tactics involving physical coercion.
One study shows that approximately 45% of teens who consumed porn did so in part to learn about sex.
Research suggests that porn can influence women to be more submissive in sexual encounters.
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