Symptoms of Cybersex Addiction Can Be Linked to Both Approaching and Avoiding Prnographic Stimuli: Results From an Analog Sample of Regular Cybersex Users
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2015 in Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 6, pp. 653
KEY FINDINGS
- Results showed that individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction tended to either approach or avoid pornographic stimuli...these findings provide further empirical evidence for similarities between cybersex addiction and substance dependencies.
ABSTRACT
There is no consensus regarding the phenomenology, classification, and diagnostic criteria of cybersex addiction. Some approaches point toward similarities to substance dependencies for which approach/avoidance tendencies are crucial mechanisms. Several researchers have argued that within an addiction-related decision situation, individuals might either show tendencies to approach or avoid addiction-related stimuli. In the current study 123 heterosexual males completed an Approach-Avoidance-Task (AAT; Rinck and Becker, 2007)... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "The main result of this study is that tendencies toward cybersex addiction seem to be related to approach/avoidance tendencies. First, individuals who reported higher symptoms of cybersex addiction tended to either approach or avoid pornographic pictures, while this was not the case for neutral stimuli. Second, we found that sensitivity toward sexual arousal as well as problematic sexual behavior interacted with approach/avoidance tendencies toward pornographic pictures, leading to an accumulating effect on tendencies toward cybersex addiction. Again, no significant interactions were found for approach/avoidance tendencies toward neutral stimuli."
