How Does Porn Affect Sex?

People who watch pornography experience decreased levels of sexual satisfaction and experience erectile dysfunction at higher rates as compared to those who do not watch pornography regularly (Wery & Billieux, 2016).

Regular consumers of pornography report lower levels of satisfaction with their sexual performance, questions about their virility, lower levels of self-esteem, and more body-image issues (Sun, Bridges, Johnson, & Ezzell, 2016).

The more pornography people viewed, the less sexually satisfied they are (Wright, Bridges, Sun, Ezzell, & Johnson, 2017). 

With increased pornography use, people have more risky sex, more non-consensual sex, and less sexual intimacy (Braithwaite, Coulson,  Keddington, & Fincham, 2015).

Women whose partners use porn are less satisfied sexually, with their relationship in general, and with their bodies (Wright & Tokunaga, 2017).

When adolescents are exposed to pornography, they are less likely to condoms if they engage in sexual intercourse.  However, if these adolescents had conversations with their parents about the importance of wearing condoms, the “pornography effect” went away (Wright et al., 2020). 

Men who view pornography more frequently are less likely to use condoms during partnered sex (Wright et al, 2019).

Adolescents who use pornography are more likely to be having sex than their abstaining counterparts (Wright & Vangeel, 2019).

Pornography use leads to sexual dissatisfaction, being more critical of one’s body or that of one’s partner, increased pressure to perform, and less partnered sex (de Alarcon et al, 2019).

Sexting is increasingly common among people age 18-29.  In that age group, 38% of sent sext messages and 42% have received them.  15% of people have had their sext messages forwarded without their permission (Mori et al., 2020). 

Men with low self esteem are especially likely to use pornography as a way to over-conform to male norms like having emotional control and being self-reliant (Borgogna et al., 2020).

The more pornography men view, the less satisfied they are with their partner – both generally and with their sexual relationship (Bridges, 2016).

The more pornography a man watches, the more he also watches porn on a mobile device during a sexual encounter (Sun et al., 2015).

The more time a man watches porn, the more likely he is to ask his partner to do things he saw in porn (Sun et al., 2015).

The more a man watches porn, the more he has to think about what he saw in porn to remain aroused (Sun et al., 2015).

The more a man watches porn, the more he is concerned with how he performs sexually. (Sun et al., 2015).

The more men use porn, the less they enjoy sex and the worse they feel about how their body looks. (Sun et al., 2015).

The most common behavior men ask female partners to do from what they learned is porn is to engage in anal sex. Females describe this as painful, risky, and coercive (Marston & Lewis, 2014).