Differences in Pornography Use Among Couples: Associations with Satisfaction, Stability, and Relationship Processes
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2016 in Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 45(1), pp. 145-158
KEY FINDINGS
- This study found that patterns where one romantic partner uses porn and the other doesn't results in less relationship satisfaction.
- The use of pornography was linked to reduced relationship stability.
- Pornography use was found to be associated with lower sexual desire in couple relationships.
ABSTRACT
The present study utilized a sample of 1755 adult couples in heterosexual romantic relationships to examine how different patterns of pornography use between romantic partners may be associated with relationship outcomes. While pornography use has been generally associated with some negative and some positive couple outcomes, no study has yet explored how differences between partners may uniquely be associated with relationship well-being. Results suggested that greater discrepancies between partners in pornography use were... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "Across a series of analyses, greater pornography use differences were associated with more negative reports of couple well-being net of controls...given that virtually all (95%) pornography differences involved a male partner using more than a female partner and male, but not female, pornography use was found to have significant associationswith negative couple wellbeing, such findings may represent unique gendered patterns as well and speak to the impact on relationships of male pornography use in the absence of female use."
