ADF Alliance Alert

Comprehensive Overview of Pornography Research Reveals Unhealthy Sexual Addictions and Destruction of Families

FULL TEXT OF THE REPORT (pdf)

Pornography generates numerous negative outcomes for individuals and families, according to a comprehensive overview of pornography research by Dr. Patrick Fagan of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute at the Family Research Council. Among the report’s critical findings:

- Pornography is more accessible than ever. About 25 percent of those who went on the Internet in 2003 did so for sexual purposes.

- Pornography is more ubiquitous than ever. Up to 90 percent of youth aged 15 to 17 reported accidentally coming across pornography online. About one quarter of these youth said this happens “somewhat or very often.”

- Pornography confuses young people. The more often adolescents are exposed to sexually explicit material on the Internet, the more sexually uncertain they are.

- Pornography harms relationships. According to one study, “Women commonly report feelings of betrayal, loss, mistrust, devastation, and anger as responses to the discovery or disclosure of a partner’s pornography use and/or online sexual activity.” Adults who steadily consume pornography are three times as likely to be unfaithful to their spouses.

-Pornography contributes to divorce. In one study, 56 percent of divorce cases involved an obsessive interest in pornographic websites, and 33 percent involved excessive time in chat rooms (a commonly sexualized forum).

-Pornography alters people’s understanding of healthy sexuality. Repeated exposure to pornography prompted respondents to consider engaging in “recreational sex” as important, and to be very accepting of sexual permissiveness.

- Pornography is associated with greater vices. The use of Internet pornography makes participants almost four times more likely to engage in paid sex.

-Pornography is related to sex crimes. Internet sexual offenders report that more than 11 hours of their week is spent viewing pornographic images of children on the Internet.

-Pornography consumption is closely related to sexual aggression.

-Pornography consumption is difficult to control. A recent study of college freshmen found that habituation to pornography led to tolerance of sexually explicit material, requiring more novel or bizarre material to achieve the same level of arousal or interest.

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