Pornography Consumption and Satisfaction: A Meta‐Analysis
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2017 in Human Communications Research, Vol. 43, pp. 315-343
KEY FINDINGS
- This meta-analysis study analyzed the results of dozens of studies and found that pornography consumption was associated with lower interpersonal satisfaction outcomes in cross‐sectional surveys, longitudinal surveys, and experiments.
ABSTRACT
A classic question in the communication literature is whether pornography consumption affects consumers' satisfaction. The present paper represents the first attempt to address this question via meta‐analysis. Fifty studies collectively including more than 50,000 participants from 10 countries were located across the interpersonal domains of sexual and relational satisfaction and the intrapersonal domains of body and self satisfaction. Pornography consumption was not related to the intrapersonal satisfaction outcomes that... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "This paper presented results from meta-analyses of survey and experimental studies on pornography consumption and sexual and relational satisfaction (summarized as interpersonal outcomes) and body and self satisfaction (summarized as intrapersonal outcomes). In an overall, combined-sample analysis of relational and sexual satisfaction studies, the consumption of pornographywas associated with lower interpersonal satisfaction."
- "Several inferences can be drawn from these results. First, contrary to the statements of consumers when asked directly about how pornography has positively impacted them, it seems unlikely that an increase in the frequency and intensity of consumption would, on the average, lead to a corresponding increase in satisfaction with oneself or one’s sexual or romantic relationships."
