Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
Even quitting porn for a short time can lessen its negative effects and have positive effects on consumers' lives and relationships.
One study that kept track of couples over time found that consuming porn was the second strongest predictor that a relationship would suffer.
According to a 2021 study, only 5.94% of porn-consuming respondents said that they watched porn because of a "lack of sexual satisfaction." In other words, the vast majority of porn consumers are watching porn for reasons other than their partner not being "enough."
Research indicates that young people often feel pressured to imitate porn when having sex.
Despite porn’s promise of improving consumers’ sex lives, research shows that consuming porn is associated with decreased sexual satisfaction.
Increased pornography consumption is linked to men’s enjoyment of degrading, uncommon, or aggressive sexual behaviors.
A 2017 poll found that the more porn a man consumes, the more likely he is to be dissatisfied with his penis size. And the same goes for women with male partners— the more porn they consume, the less satisfied they are with their partner’s penis size.
Research shows that those with an interest in extreme or degrading porn are more likely to reenact porn scenes during sex with a partner.
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.
Research suggests that porn can influence women to be more submissive in sexual encounters.
Longitudinal, qualitative research has found that young people's narratives surrounding anal sex often encourage coercion, pain, and other risky behaviors, and that they often attribute these narratives to pornography, as it can normalize sexual behaviors and attitudes.
According to a 2016 study, people who view porn regularly are less likely to get married than those who do not. Researchers suggest this may be because consumers see porn as a substitute for sexual gratification in a relationship.
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