Scientists Say Go Ahead, Keep Gooning
Access to adult content has never been as accessible as it is now, thanks to the Internet. Online indecency played a major role in the rise of the web itself in the 1990s.
With the abundance of pornography, some have expressed concerns that some people consume too much of this stuff or even become addicted, which they claim could have consequences such as emotion regulation or poor sexual performance.
But as PsyPost Reports, these fears may be exaggerated. Researchers at the University of Pécs in Hungary found that it didn’t matter how many times porn was viewed; The reasons someone indulges in these things are more predictive of their sexual health.
As detailed in a new paper published in International Journal of Sexual Healththe researchers found that positive motives, such as “enhancing sexual pleasure, exploring fantasies, or deepening intimacy,” were “associated with frequent but nonproblematic pornography use and with adaptive sexual regulation.”
However, those with “negative motives,” such as “reducing stress, emotional escape, or avoiding discomfort,” were more strongly associated with “hyperactive sexual system, difficulties regulating emotion, and poor relational functioning.”
The study included 890 adult participants in Hungary, including 600 individuals assigned female at birth and 290 male at birth. Participants provided anonymous answers through an online survey.
“The main gap in the literature is that pornography use is often assessed primarily by how often people use it, although frequency alone tells us very little about whether use is actually harmful,” said Norbert Misko, a professor of psychology at the University of Pécs. PsyPost.
“We were interested in knowing whether these different motivations were associated with different patterns of sexual and emotional functioning,” he added.
Even more striking, the researchers found that participants who reported frequent pornography use were less likely to experience problematic outcomes. However, those who used it primarily to cope and manage stress were more likely to have symptoms of problematic use, suggesting that frequency is not the main indicator of whether it is actually harmful.
“One somewhat surprising finding is that frequent use, when driven by positive motives, was associated with less sexual disinhibition — meaning less emotional withdrawal from sexuality,” Misko said. PsyPost. “In contrast, only problematic use – not frequent use – was associated with these types of withdrawn or avoidant sexual patterns.”
“Importantly, problematic use showed much stronger links to difficulties with sexual and emotional functioning than simple frequency,” he added. “This suggests that in practical terms, it is more useful to look at whether someone feels out of control or distressed by their use rather than looking at how often they watch pornography.”
Of course, as the researchers note in their paper, there are some limitations to their research. First, the self-reporting nature of their data may not be reliable, as it relies on memory. It may also not be generalizable to a wider population as a result.
Multiple motivations for pornography use may also overlap—for example, seeking pleasure while also distracting from stress—meaning that some cases may not fit neatly into either positive or negative motivations. One category may also quickly shift into another, further complicating the picture.
“We would caution against thinking of pornography as merely ‘good’ or ‘bad,’” Misko said. PsyPost. “For some people, it may be part of healthy sexual expression, while for others it may serve as a way to avoid emotional problems or relationship difficulties.”
More about pornography: Grok is used to depict horrific violence against real women
The post Scientists Say Go Forward, Keep It Up appeared first on Futurism.
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2026-01-25 18:30:00
