Watching 'Too Much' Porn Isn't Always A Problem, But How You Choose It Could Be

The Archives of Sexual Behaviour shared that though most people understand porn consumption to be “common,” the behaviour still carries a “stigma” that can leave some feeling guilty. 

Another study found that self-identifying as being “addicted” to pornography can have negative outcomes for relationships; people who thought they had a porn problem had “higher odds of having a relationship end solely because of pornography”. 

Now, research published in the International Journal of Sexual Health suggested that frequent porn consumption, which some might associate with problematic porn use, is not the only way of evaluating the healthiness of porn habits, and may not even be the most effective method. 

The reason for watching porn might matter more than porn consumption

“Although pornography-use frequency has been a major focus of prior research, empirical evidence increasingly demonstrates that frequency alone is a poor indicator of dysfunction,” the paper reads. 

The researchers wanted to look at how a person’s motivation for watching porn, too.

In the study, which included 890 participants aged 18-64, were asked to fill in an online survey. As a part of this survey, they were asked to describe their motivations for selecting porn, as well as how often they watched. 

The questionnaire also included a Sexual System Functioning Scale, which aimed to figure out participants’ sexual functionality, as well as a Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale.

The researchers grouped participants’ porn motivations into two general groups: positive motivations, like satisfying lust, exploring sexual fantasies, and curiosity, and negative motivations, like using porn to avoid boredom and stress and/or as a distraction from negative feelings. 

In this research, those who approached porn with “positive motivations” tended to consume a lot of it, but didn’t seem to form addictive behaviours or experience sexual dysfunction as often. 

However, the porn habits among those in the “negative motivations” group were “strongly linked to problematic use, marked by sexual system hyperactivation, emotion regulation difficulties, and impaired relational functioning”. 

The paper suggests that consumption levels alone don’t always spell a problem

“Importantly, the results underscore that frequent pornography use is not inherently maladaptive,” the paper said.

“Instead, the motivational and emotional regulation context plays a critical role in shaping outcomes.” 

Speaking to PsyPost, the study’s first author, Professor Meskó, said: “The effects are moderate in size, which is typical for psychological motivation research, but they are consistent and meaningful.

“Importantly, problematic use showed much stronger links to difficulties in sexual and emotional functioning than simple frequency did. This suggests that from a practical standpoint, it is more useful to look at whether someone feels out of control or distressed by their use than at how often they watch pornography.” 

The study authors added that not everyone has one consistent, or sole, motive type when viewing porn, and noted that more research is needed to establish a causal relationship between motivation type and problematic porn use.