How prevalent is it?
Porn sites get more visitors each month than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.1
In 2005, total daily adult site traffic averaged less than 1 million unique visitors on the entire internet.2 By 2015, free Mindgeek tube sites alone receive 100 million unique visitors per day.3
The proliferation of high-speed Internet and Internet-enabled devices has fundamentally altered the ways people view and interact with pornography.4
The proliferation of digital tools has blurred the lines between porn producers, distributors and consumers. Barriers to entry and transaction costs—such as the affordability of video equipment, for example, or the abundance of user-friendly online platforms and services—have fallen and enabled consumers to produce and distribute their own pornography.5
Where is it coming from?
The United States is the largest producer and exporter of hardcore pornographic DVDs and web material.6
The United States produces 25% of the world’s porn.7
More than half of all porn websites are located in the US.
The US also has the highest daily traffic to these sites in the world.8
Americans are the central consumers, producers, and exporters.
Children are watching it
The average age of first pornography exposure is between 11 and 12 years old.9
99% of them report that they accessed pornography through the internet.
90 percent of 8- to 16-year-olds have been to a porn site.10
This is unintentional
71 percent of teenagers ages thirteen through seventeen come across Internet porn without even looking for it.11
Children in the youngest age-group (11 to 13) were the most likely to say that their viewing of this content was mostly or all unintentional (62% vs. 46% of 16- to 17-year-olds).12
60% of children saw it for the first time at home.
29% saw it at a friend’s house.
In terms of whether this was volitional viewing, 32% reported that the first time they saw it they were alone and it just popped up, and 22% reported that it was shown to them by someone else without them expecting it.13
The children are affected over time
94% of porn users reported seeing it by age 14. Some of the respondents felt curious (41%) shocked (27%) or confused (24%) on first viewing pornography, but the negative feelings subsided through repeated viewing.14
Wishing to emulate pornography increases with age – 21% for 11 to 12-year olds; 39% for 13-14 year olds and 42% for 15-16 year olds.15
Can’t families solve this on their own?
Parents don’t know.
75% of parents felt their child would not have seen pornography online, but of those children, 53% said they had in fact seen pornography.16
Only 12% of parents know their teens are accessing pornography.17
More than 80.3% of U.S. youth in late adolescence report having accessed pornography,18 while only 39% of parents use devices or software to block such content.19
47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their home.20
Being raised in a church is not sufficient protection against pornography.
The number of Christian men viewing pornography virtually mirrors the national average.21
77% of Christian men between the ages of 18 and 30 say that they look at pornography at least monthly.22
Overall, 21% of youth pastors and 14% of pastors admit they currently struggle with using porn.23
The vast majority of faith leaders who struggle with porn say this has significantly affected their ministry in a negative manner.24
It is meant to undermine Christians.
The founder of hardcore porn, Al Goldstein said, “The only reason that Jews are in pornography is that we think that Christ sucks. Catholicism sucks. We don’t believe in authoritarianism… Pornography thus becomes a way of defiling Christian culture and, as it penetrates to the very heart of the American mainstream, its subversive character becomes more charged.”
When asked, “Do you believe in God?” Goldstein said, “I believe in me. I’m God. Screw God. God is your need to believe in some super being. I am the super being. I am your God, admit it.”25
Why do I care?
For minors:
It hinders sexual development. Pornography viewing by teens disorients them during the developmental phase when they have to learn how to handle their sexuality and when they are most vulnerable to uncertainty about their sexual beliefs and moral values.26
It raises the risk of depression. A significant relationship also exists among teens between frequent pornography use and feelings of loneliness, including major depression.27
It creates distorted expectations which hinder healthy sexual development. Adolescents exposed to high levels of pornography have lower levels of sexual self-esteem.28
It is addictive. Studies examining the neuroimaging results of subjects who viewed internet pornography reveal brain region activation similar to craving and drug cue reactions for alcohol, cocaine, and nicotine. People who identified as engaging in compulsive sexual behaviors showed more reactivity in the brain compared with those who identified as non-compulsive. Thus, viewing pornography, especially when it becomes compulsive in nature, activates the same underlying brain networks as alcohol and other drugs. These studies offer profound evidence that the compulsive and consistent use of pornography is potentially as powerful as drug use.29
There is an association between online porn use and earlier sexual debut, engaging with occasional and/or multiple partners, emulating risky sexual behaviors, assimilating distorted gender roles, dysfunctional body perception, aggression, anxiety, depression, and compulsive porn use.30
In a study of high school boys in Sweden, almost all boys, 96% (n = 453), had watched pornography. Frequent users (everyday, 10%) versus average users (63%) and infrequent users (27%) had more sexual experiences, such as one night stands (45, 32, 25%, respectively) and sex with friends more than 10 times (13, 10, 2%). A higher proportion of frequent users spent more than 10 straight hours at the computer several times a week (32, 5, 8%) and reported more relationship problems with peers (38, 22, 21%), truancy at least once a week (11, 6, 5%), obesity (13, 3, 3%), use of oral tobacco (36, 29, 20%), and use of alcohol (77, 70, 52%) versus average and infrequent users. One third of frequent users watched more pornography than they actually wanted. … The boys, defined as frequent users of pornography, were more sexually experienced, spent more time at the computer, and reported an unhealthier lifestyle compared with average and infrequent users.31
For adults:
79% of 18 to 30-year-olds visit pornography sites monthly.32
Over one-half (55%) of married men view pornography.33
Among young adult male participants, 21 percent reported needing to increase the amount or intensify the nature of pornography to achieve the same level of arousal.34
Men who watch pornography regularly are also more likely to report they frequently feel insecure. 74% of men who report having watched pornography in the past 24 hours say they have felt self-conscious or insecure in the past week. Only 45% of men who say they have never watched pornography say the same.35
Pornography may also contribute to men feeling less satisfied with their sex lives. Only about a quarter (26 percent) of men who report having watched pornography in the past day say they are completely or very satisfied with their sex lives, compared to 41% of those who say they have never watched pornography.36
Severe clinical depression was reported twice as frequently among internet pornography users compared to non users.37
Pornography use begets loneliness, and loneliness begets pornography use. In Pornography Use and Loneliness: A Bidirectional Recursive Model and Pilot Investigation, Butler, Pereyra, Drap, Leonhardt, and Skinner (2018) surveyed 1,247 participants in English-speaking countries around the world to develop a sophisticated statistical model of how various factors related to loneliness and pornography use. Overall, they found that porn use was significantly associated with loneliness. In addition, loneliness was significantly associated with pornography use, suggesting a two-way relationship. In fact, for each “unit” of porn use, loneliness increased significantly by a factor of 0.20. For each unit of loneliness, porn used increased by a factor of 0.16. In addition, as shown in prior research, pornography use was greater for men and was lower for married people. Greater religiousness reduced pornography use, and higher educational level was associated with reduced loneliness. The authors discuss that pornography use is associated with relationship distress, disrupted attachment, and strain on pair bonding. Harm to relationships is due to pornography’s “sexual script, consisting of eroticism, objectification, promiscuity, and misogyny [which] is on its face antithetical to secure attachment… conceptually linked to loneliness”—a perspective supported by the analysis of Pornhub videos’ depictions of sexuality.
Butler and colleagues go on to describe pornography addiction as arising from maladaptive efforts to use porn to alleviate loneliness and other negative feelings. In this view, pornography use is a two-phase process of arousal and euphoria during sexual stimulation, followed by relief and comfort after completion. Pornography provides temporary relief, but ultimately induces greater feelings of loneliness and isolation, disrupting normal attachment behavior, leading to greater difficulty forming stable, satisfying relationships, and further increasing the likelihood of using pornography as a substitute for intimacy with close others.38
Men who watch pornography more often feel lonelier, more insecure, and dissatisfied with their personal appearance.39
For relationships:
Individuals who never view sexually explicit material report higher relationship quality and lower rates of infidelity than those who do.
Those who frequently consume Internet pornography are less likely to marry because they see pornography as a marital sexual gratification substitute.40
A 2014 study found that compulsive pornography users “had greater impairments of sexual arousal and erectile difficulties in intimate relationships but not with sexually explicit materials.”41
58 percent of men who struggle with pornography report issues with erectile dysfunction (ED), delayed ejaculation (DE), or inability to reach orgasm (anorgasmia).42
Prolonged exposure to pornography leads to:
- Diminished trust between intimate couples.
- Belief that promiscuity is the natural state.
- Lack of attraction to family and child-raising.
Couples where both partners report that they do not use pornography report the highest levels of relationship stability, commitment, and relationship satisfaction; with 90% or above of these couples reporting that their relationship is stable, committed, and satisfying to them as a couple. A consistent reduction in relationship stability, commitment, and relationship satisfaction was noted as the relative frequency of pornography use increased within couples. Lower levels of relationship quality were consistent across both couples with a similar level of use (both monthly users and both daily users), as well as for couples with a reported gap in use between the partners. In comparison to couples who avoid pornography, couples where men use pornography regularly and women use pornography occasionally were 18% less likely to report that their relationship is stable, 20% less likely to be strongly committed, and 18% less likely to report that they have high relationship satisfaction. Although not a common pattern, couples where both partners view pornography on a daily basis report a 45% decrease in stability and a 30% decrease in commitment levels compared to couples where both partners do not view pornography at all.43
Porn consumers tend to experience more negative communication with their partners, feel less dedicated to their relationships, have a more difficult time making adjustments in their relationships, are less sexually satisfied, and commit more infidelity.44 Research also shows that porn consumers tend to become less committed to their partners4546, less satisfied in their relationships47, and more accepting of cheating.48
Meanwhile, partners of porn consumers also report negative effects, such as lower self-esteem, worse relationship quality, and less sexual satisfaction.49 Research also suggests that porn consumption can undermine trust in a relationship and fuel couple conflict.50
Reports consistently show that porn consumers are twice as likely to later report experiencing a divorce or breakup—even after controlling for marital happiness, sexual satisfaction, and other relevant factors.5152
One study, for example, tracked couples over a six-year period to see what factors influenced the quality of their marriage and their satisfaction with their sex lives. The researchers found that of all the factors considered, porn consumption was the second strongest indicator that a marriage would suffer.53 Not only that, but the marriages that were harmed the most were those of individuals who viewed porn the most.54
According to another study, individuals who watched porn alone reported twice the rate of cheating on their partner in comparison to couples who didn’t watch porn at all. And interestingly enough, individuals who viewed porn alone and with their partners reported three times the rate of cheating.55
Ultimately, the research showed that those who never viewed pornography reported higher relationship quality—on every measure—than those who viewed pornography alone.56
For Families:
Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%.57
64% of men were not interested in marriage because of pornography.58
56% [of divorce cases] involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites.59
Extramarital sex is one of the most commonly cited reasons for divorce, and pornography consumption is correlated with positive attitudes towards extramarital affairs.60
Finally, in Till Porn Do Us Part? A Longitudinal Examination of Pornography Use and Divorce, Perry and Schleifer (2018) conducted a longitudinal study of married individuals spanning from 2006 to 2014. Surveying 2,120 married adults, they found that, overall, the chance of divorce doubled for both men and women who started using porn after getting married. Across the whole sample, the divorce rate was 6 percent for non-porn users and 11 percent for porn users. The rates of divorce with porn use were higher for women who started using porn, nearly tripling from 6 to 16 percent, whereas for men, porn use was associated with an increase from 5 to 10 percent in divorce rates. Stopping porn use was associated with a reduced risk of divorce only for women. For women who stopped using porn, the divorce rate was 6 percent, compared with 18 percent for women who continued to report porn use for the duration of the study.61
Finally, researchers found that the association between pornography use and divorce was much higher for younger people. Half of the 20-year-olds who began using pornography after marriage divorced (versus 6 percent who did not start using porn), 28 percent of 30-year-olds, and 12 percent of 40-year-olds. By the age of 50, beginning pornography use did not significantly affect the divorce rate. For those who attended religious services at least once per week, pornography consumption did not affect the divorce rate. For those who reported being happiest about getting married, beginning porn use was associated with higher divorce rates: 12 percent versus 3 percent for those who did not begin using porn.62
Why does this matter for us?
Since 2007, the Birth rate in America has fallen 20%.63
Marriages have declined 17.8% in the same period.64
People need help. “87 percent say that no one in their lives is helping them avoid pornography. And 54 percent of those couldn’t even think of anyone who could help them.”65
Shame alone won’t work. According to one study of individuals trying to quit porn, researchers found that shame actually predicted increased pornography consumption while guilt predicted sustainable change.66
It is unmanageable at the individual level. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation concluded that free range online pornography makes addiction unmanageable at the Individual Level. The pervasive depictions of softcore and hardcore pornography in popular culture, and their easy accessibility via streaming and mobile devices, produce problems and significant risks outside the ability of individuals and families to manage on their own.”67
So what do we do?
Ban it.
Pornography hurts adults, children, couples, families, and society. Among adolescents, pornography hinders the development of a healthy sexuality, and among adults, it distorts sexual attitudes and social realities. In families, pornography use leads to marital dissatisfaction, infidelity, separation, and divorce.
In 2002, before porn was prevalent online, 81% of Americans believed federal laws against internet obscenity should be “vigorously enforced.”68
Today, 77 percent of people in swing states supported (15 percent opposed) laws requiring age verification for accessing online pornography.
We don’t sell cigarettes to people under 21. We don’t let 10 year olds into strip clubs.
We check ID.
Does Age Verification work?
Age-restricted products were significantly more successful at avoiding sales to minors if they used age verification.
According to a study69 at the University of North Carolina (UNC), 45 out of 100 underage attempts to purchase alcohol online were successful. The underage participants could lie about their age and date of birth, but they had to comply if asked to show their ID.
The study revealed many errors in online sellers’ typical age verification processes and highlighted a likely solution. Results showed that:
- Of 39 vendors that required a date of birth, only 3 rejected orders.
- Of the 5 vendors that required a driver’s license number, all 5 rejected orders.
Given that 63% of children aged 11 to 13 who had seen pornography said their first exposure had been unintentional, age-verification is likely to have a significant impact here.”70
Can we do it?
This is a state issue.
Obscene speech is illegal and can be legislated against according to each State’s definition.
States can also define material harmful to minors even more specifically.
Tennessee defines “harmful to minors” as:
Any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse when the matter or performance:
- Would be found by the average person applying contemporary community standards to appeal predominantly to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests of minors;
- Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
- Taken as whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific values for minors;
I pulled up PornHub on my phone. The first video was ‘Step Sister Skylar Vox Gets Her Pretty Face and Huge Tits Covered With Jizz Full Movie – SisLovesMe.’
This video is one law away from being kept out of your kid’s childhood.
How do we do it?
Pornography was already declared a public health crisis in Utah in 201671, and Louisiana in 2017.72
That means that porn isn’t just obscene, it’s legally harmful.
Altogether 17 states have declare porn a public health crisis and listed all the harms you’ve seen in this article.73
In 2022, Louisiana passed legislation requiring age verification to access pornographic websites.74
Utah did the same in 2023.75
Mississippi and Arkansas passed bills7677, going into effect next month.75
Oklahoma, South Carolina, Oregon, Missouri, New Jersey, Iowa, Texas, Montana, Virginia, Alabama and Kansas have all introduced bills.78
Utah has even introduced a federal bill on the federal level to clarify the definition of obscenity.79
The UK passed age verification legislation in 2017.80
Germany has age verification requirements.81
France passed age verification legislation in 2020.82
Is it effective?
Here is a graph comparing “Twitter” and “pornhub” searches across America in the last year:
Compare it with the same period in Louisiana:
Note the age verification law taking effect on January 1st.
A PornHub spokesperson told CNN that since the Louisiana law went into effect, traffic from that state has fallen 80%.85
Won’t people just use a VPN to avoid the ban?
There will always be people who skirt the law.
But we need strict laws in place to protect children from addictive and harmful influences.
A personal anecdote
When I was 10 years old my sister called me downstairs. She had searched for ‘baby doll’ on google images. There were images of huge women with big boobs. I didn’t understand what I was seeing. My sister was 8.
When I was 12 years old I was at a friend’s sleepover in the basement and his parents computer was there. I waited for him to go to sleep and tried to use it. But the parents had a filter I couldn’t get around. I definitely tried.
I had another sleepover with a different neighbor when I was 13. We talked about porn and how to erase our browsing history so our parents didn’t find out.
This affected how I saw sex, how I saw women, and my generation doesn’t even know how abnormally we developed.
Putting in place strict moral (common sense) protections for children is the first step to getting our future children back on track and in healthy relationships with their future husbands and wives.
Louisiana Bill 440 – https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1289498
Utah Bill SB0287 – https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0287.html
Contact your representative or the National Center on Child Exploitation to learn more.
Footnotes
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/03/internet–porn–stats_n_3187682.html
[2] https://nymag.com/news/features/70985/index4.html
[3] https://www.economist.com/international/2015/09/26/naked-capitalism
[4] (Eric W. Owens, Richard J. Behun, Jill C. Manning and Rory C. Reid, “The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents,” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, vol. 19, issue 1-2, 2012, pp 99-122.) (David Kinnaman & Roxanne Stone, “The Porn Phenomenon – The Impact of Pornography in the Digital Age”, Barna Group, April 4, 2016, http://barna-resources.myshopify.com/products/porn-phenomenon)
[5] (Johannes Grenzfurthner, Gunther Friesinger and Daniel Fabry, Pronnovation: Pornography and Technological Innovation (San Francisco: Re Search, 2008), p 49.) (David Kinnaman & Roxanne Stone, “The Porn Phenomenon – The Impact of Pornography in the Digital Age”, Barna Group, April 4, 2016, http://barna-resources.myshopify.com/products/porn-phenomenon)
[6] http://familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html#important_countries(accessed June 6, 2014
[7] https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/10-countries-that-produce-maximum-pornography-is-india-on-this-list-142504991.html
[8] https://www.pornhub.com/insights/yir-2021
[9] Kraus & Rosenberg, 2014; Rothman, 2021, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259956202_The_Pornography_Craving_Questionnaire_Psychometric_Properties
[10] “Children Internet Pornography Statistics”, Family Safe Pornography Statistics, Accessed April 2, 2015, http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html
[11] The Porn Phenomenon Study, 2016, 41, https://www.barna.com/the-porn-phenomenon
[12] BBFC. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. https://www.revealingreality.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BBFC-Young-people-and-pornography-Final-report-2401.pdf
[13] Elena Martellozzo, Andy Monaghan, Joanna R. Adler, Julia Davidson, Rodolfo Leyva and Miranda A.H. Horvath, “A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people”, Middlesex University London, https://www.mdx.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/223266/MDX-NSPCC-OCCpornography-report.pdf
[14] The Children’s Commissioner and NSPCC of England, Martellozzo et al., 2017, https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2017/06/MDX-NSPCC-OCC-Online-Pornography-Report.pdf
[15] Elena Martellozzo, Andy Monaghan, Joanna R. Adler, Julia Davidson, Rodolfo Leyva and Miranda A.H. Horvath, “A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people”, Middlesex University London, https://www.mdx.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/223266/MDX-NSPCC-OCCpornography-report.pdf
[16] BBFC. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. https://www.revealingreality.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BBFC-Young-people-and-pornography-Final-report-2401.pdf
[17] TruResearch (2012) Covenent Eyes 2015 Pornography Statistics. [Accessed 29th December 2015] http://www.covenanteyes.com/lemonade/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2015-porn-stats-covenant-eyes.pdf
[18] Astle et al., 2020
[19] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/01/07/parents-teens-and-digital-monitoring/
[20] National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, 2010, Webroot, “Internet pornography by the numbers; a significant threat to society”, https://www.webroot.com/us/en/home/resources/tips/digital-family-life/internetpornography-by-the-numbers
[21] Barna Group, “Pornography Use and Addiction.”, ProvenMen, 2014, http://www.provenmen.org/2014pornsurvey/pornography-use-and-addiction/
[22] “Pornography: Destroying Marriages & Families,” Wisconsin Family Connection Transcript, February 10, 2015, http://wifamilycouncil.org/pornographydestroying-marriages-families-2/
[23] David Kinnaman, “The Porn Phenomenon”, Barna, January 19, 2016, https://www.barna.org/blog/culture-media/david-kinnaman/the-pornphenomenon#.VvrvEuIrK70
[24] David Kinnaman, “The Porn Phenomenon”, Barna, January 19, 2016, https://www.barna.org/blog/culture-media/david-kinnaman/the-pornphenomenon#.VvrvEuIrK70
[25] Ford, Luke (2004). XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul. ISBN 9780595318940. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
[26] Jochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg, “Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material, Sexual Uncertainty, and Attitudes Toward Uncommitted Sexual Exploration: Is There a Link?” Communication Research 35 (2008): 579-601 (581)
[27] Michele L. Ybarra and Kimberly J. Mitchell, “Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 8 (2005): 473-86 (479). 10 Vincent Cyrus Yoder, Thomas B.Virden III, and Kiran Amin “Internet pornography and Loneliness: An Association?” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity 12 (2005): 19-44 (30). This was a study of 400 individual Internet pornography users.
[28] Todd G. Morrison, Shannon R. Ellis, Melanie A. Morrison, Anomi Bearden, and Rebecca L. Harriman, “Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material and Variations in Body Esteem, Genital Attitudes, and Sexual Esteem Among a Sample of Canadian Men,” The Journal of Men’s Studies 14 (2006): 209-22 (216-7).
[29] Love, T., Laier, C., Brand, M., Hatch, L., & Hajela, R. (2015). Neuroscience of internet pornography addiction: A Review and update. Behavioral Sciences, (5), 388-423.
[30] Kirby, M. (2021), Pornography and its impact on the sexual health of men. Trends Urology & Men Health, 12: 6-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/tre.791
[31] Mattebo M, Tydén T, Häggström-Nordin E, Nilsson KW, Larsson M. Pornography consumption, sexual experiences, lifestyles, and self-rated health among male adolescents in Sweden. 2013, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23899659/
[32] “Pornography Statistics”, Covenant Eyes, 2015
[33] Barna Group, “Pornography Use and Addiction”, ProvenMen, 2014, http://www.provenmen.org/2014pornsurvey/pornography-use-and-addiction/
[34] Jacobs, T., Geysemans, B., Van Hal, G., Glazemakers, I., Fog-Poulsen, K., Vermandel, A., De Wachter, S., & De Win, G. (2021). Associations between online pornography consumption and sexual dysfunction in young men: Multivariate analysis based on an international web-based survey. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 7, e32542 http://doi.org/10.2196/32542
[35] Survey Center on American Life, American Perspectives Survey, March 2022, https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-prevalent-is-pornography
[36] Survey Center on American Life, American Perspectives Survey, March 2022, https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/march-2022-aps/#Views_About_Premarital_Sex
[37] Michele L. Ybarra and Kimberly J. Mitchell, “Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 8 (2005): 473-86 (479).
[38] Pornography Use and Loneliness: A Bidirectional Recursive Model and Pilot Investigation, Butler, Pereyra, Drap, Leonhardt, and Skinner (2018)
[39] Pornography Use and Loneliness: A Bidirectional Recursive Model and Pilot Investigation, Butler, Pereyra, Drap, Leonhardt, and Skinner (2018)
[40] Malcolm, M. & Naufal, G. (2014) “Are Pornography and Marriage Substitutes for Young Men?” Institute for the Study of Labor.
[41] Park, B.Y.; Wilson, G.; Berger, J.; Christman, M.; Reina, B.; Bishop, F.; Klam, W.P.; Doan, A.P. Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports. Behav. Sci. 2016, 6, 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6030017
[42] Voon V, Mole TB, Banca P, Porter L, Morris L, Mitchell S, et al. (2014) Neural Correlates of Sexual Cue Reactivity in Individuals with and without Compulsive Sexual Behaviours. PLoS ONE 9(7): e102419. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102419
[43] The Porn Gap, https://wheatley.byu.edu/00000183-2328-dc42-a7f7-7ba86d810001/the-porn-gap
[44] Maddox, A. M., Rhoades, G. K., & Markman, H. J. (2011). Viewing sexually-explicit materials alone or together: associations with relationship quality. Archives of sexual behavior, 40(2), 441–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9585-4
[45] Minarcik, J., Wetterneck, C. T., & Short, M. B. (2016). The Effects Of Sexually Explicit Material Use On Romantic Relationship Dynamics. Journal Of Behavioral Addictions, 5(4) 700-707. Doi: 10.1556/2006.5.2016.078
[46] Lambert, N. M., Negash, S., Stillman, T. F., Olmstead, S. B., & Fincham, F. D. (2012). A love that doesn’t last: Pornography consumption and weakened commitment to one’s romantic partner. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31(4), 410-438. doi:10.1521/jscp.2012.31.4.410
[47] Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., Kraus, A., & Klann, E. (2017). Pornography consumption and satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Human Communication Research, 43(3), 315-343. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12108
[48] Rasmussen, K. (2016). A Historical and Empirical Review of Pornography and Romantic Relationships: Implications for Family Researchers. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(2), 173-191. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12141
[49] Stewart, D. N., & Szymanski, D. M. (2012). Young adult women’s reports of their male romantic partner’s pornography use as a correlate of their self-esteem, relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 67(5-6), 257-271. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0164-0
[50] Carroll, J. S., Busby, D. M., Willoughby, B. J., & Brown, C. C. (2017). The porn gap: Differences in men’s and women’s pornography patterns in couple relationships.16(2), 146-163. doi:10.1080/15332691.2016.1238796
[51] Perry, S. L. (2018). Pornography use and marital separation: Evidence from two-wave panel data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(6), 1869-1880. doi:10.1007/s10508-017-1080-8
[52] Perry, S. L., & Davis, J. T. (2017). Are pornography users more likely to experience a romantic breakup? Evidence from longitudinal data. Sexuality & Culture, 21(4), 1157-1176. doi:10.1007/s12119-017-9444-8
Perry, S. L., & Schleifer, C. (2018). Till porn do us part? A longitudinal examination of pornography use and divorce. 55(3), 284-296. doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1317709
[53] Perry, S. (2017). Does Viewing Pornography Reduce Marital Quality Over Time? Evidence From Longitudinal Data. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 46(2), 549-559. Doi: 10.1007/S10508-016-0770-Y
[54] Perry, S. (2017). Does Viewing Pornography Reduce Marital Quality Over Time? Evidence From Longitudinal Data. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 46(2), 549-559. Doi: 10.1007/S10508-016-0770-Y
[55] Maddox, A. M., Rhoades, G. K., & Markman, H. J. (2011). Viewing Sexually-Explicit Materials Alone Or Together: Associations With Relationship Quality. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 40(2), 441-448. Doi:10.1007/S10508-009-9585-4
[56] Maddox, A. M., Rhoades, G. K., & Markman, H. J. (2011). Viewing Sexually-Explicit Materials Alone Or Together: Associations With Relationship Quality. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 40(2), 441-448. Doi:10.1007/S10508-009-9585-4
[57] Webroot, Site Accessed March 21, 2018, “Internet pornography by the numbers; a significant threat to society”, https://www.webroot.com/us/en/home/resources/tips/digitalfamily-life/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers
[58] Steve Weatherbe, “Porn still ‘morally unacceptable’ to most Americans: Gallup”, Life Site News, June 23, 2016, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/porn-still-morallyunacceptable-to-most-americans-gallup
[59] The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family, and Community,” by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., psychologist, and former Deputy Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary.
[60] Wright, P., Tokunaga, R. & Bae, S. (2014) “More Than a Dalliance? Pornography Consumption and Extramarital Sex Attitudes Amoung Married U.S. Adults.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
[61] Till Porn Do Us Part? A Longitudinal Examination of Pornography Use and Divorce, Perry and Schleifer (2018)
[62] Till Porn Do Us Part? A Longitudinal Examination of Pornography Use and Divorce, Perry and Schleifer (2018)
[63] The Center for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/topics/births.htm
[64] Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/195951/marriage-rate-in-the-united-states-since-1990/
[65] The Porn Phenomenon Study, 2016, 112
[66] Gilliland, R., South, M., Carpenter, B. N., & Hardy, S. A. (2011). The roles of shame and guilt in hypersexual behavior. 18(1), 12-29. doi:10.1080/10720162.2011.551182
[67] “Pornography & Public Health Research Summary”, National Center on Sexual /Exploitation, August 2, 2017,http://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/NCOSE_PornographyPublicHealth_ResearchSummary_8-2_17_FINAL-with-logo.pdf
[68] Wirthlin Survey, 2002, https://enough.org/stats_public_opinion
[69] https://endeavors.unc.edu/the_ease_of_buying_booze
[70] Report on People, Pornography & Age Verification (bbfc, January 2020) https://revealingreality.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BBFC-Young-people-and-pornography-Final-report-2401.pdf
[71] https://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/SCR009.html
[72] http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1048213
[73] https://fightthenewdrug.org/states-with-porn-public-health-resolutions/
[74] https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1289498
[75] https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0287.html
[76] http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/SB/2300-2399/SB2346PS.htm
[77] https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=689.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R
[78] https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/
[79] https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5260
[80] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60293057
[81] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/germany-porn-laws-age-checks
[82] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/07/french-parliament-passes-porn-age-verification-legislation/
[83] https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=Twitter,pornhub&hl=en
[84] https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US-LA&q=Twitter,pornhub&hl=en
[85] CBS News, May 2, 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/pornhub-blocks-access-in-utah-over-age-verification-law/