Pornography Use and Marital Separation: Evidence from Two-Wave Panel Data
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2018 in Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 47(6), pp. 1869–1880
KEY FINDINGS
- Analyses showed that persons who viewed pornography were more than twice as likely as those who did not view pornography to experience a divorce, even after controlling for marital happiness and sexual satisfaction as well as relevant sociodemographic correlates.
ABSTRACT
As pornography use continues to increase in the U.S., studies have sought to understand its potential influence on marital relationships. Yet, the primary focus of such studies has been pornography’s association with marital quality, not stability. Consequently, we still know relatively little about whether pornography consumption at one time predicts marital disruption later on. Drawing on data from the 2006 and 2012 waves of the nationally representative Portraits of American Life Study (N = 445), this article examined... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "This study examined whether married Americans who view pornography, either at all or in greater frequencies, have a higher likelihood of experiencing a marital separation over time compared to those who do so seldom or not at all. Findings affirmed that married pornography users were more than twice as likely to experience a marital separation in the 6 years following their reported pornography viewing compared to those who did not view pornography."
- "While numerous studies have found a negative association between pornography use and marital quality, the current study has affirmed recent research, suggesting that the potential influence of pornography use may extend to the stability of marital relationships."
