Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
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.
Porn is considered a supernormal stimulus.
Problematic porn consumers who are treated using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy show a 92% reduction in porn consumption, and an 86% reduction three months later.
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.
Of the adolescents who had been exposed to porn, 28% were first exposed by accident, 19% were unexpectedly shown pornography by someone else, and only 19% searched for it intentionally, according to research by the NSPCC.
Research has found that therapy is an effective way to treat problematic pornography consumption.
Because of desensitization, many porn consumers find themselves consuming more porn, consuming more often, or consuming more extreme forms of pornography.
Research routinely shows that consuming porn is connected to poorer mental health.
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.
The majority of young people are exposed to porn by the time they’re 13, according to research involving young people in the UK.
Over 46% of young people reported that they saw online porn for the first time when it just “popped up”, and 22% reported that someone else showed it to them when they weren’t expecting it.
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