Scientists admit watching porn can seriously damage relationships

Scientists have urged people to stop watching porn after a study found that watching it can damage relationships.

It's widely known that watching violent pornography affects people's perceptions of sex and relationships, but now experts have warned that even ethical pornography can damage sexual satisfaction with your significant other.

The majority of the couples who'd watched either of the porn categories were not satisfied with their romantic relationships.

Researchers at Brigham Young University quizzed 3,500 people to find out the level of negative impact pornography had on romantic stability in a relationship.

The majority of the participants were 38 years old and had been in a relationship for nine years.

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Dr Brian Willoughby, BYU School of Family Life professor and co-author of the study, said: “It’s true that the type of pornographic content may have larger negative effects on relationship well-being than others, and that men who are religious appear to be more impacted by watching pornography due to feelings of being out of harmony with their moral beliefs, but the fact remains that relationship stability is weakened by pornography usage for both men and women.

"Couples should know that viewing pornography is a risk factor in their relationship.

"I [had] assumed we were going to find it was maybe the aggressive, nonconsensual pornography that was affecting relationships.

"[But] we found there was no difference. Any pornography use or increase was always linked to less stability and less satisfaction in the relationship — no matter what other things we looked at."

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As the data suggests, about one in four Americans - or 82 million people - watch pornography every month, and men are four times more likely to view it than women.

It's been linked to a spike in cases of erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation and a lower sexual drive, with some experts also warning it prompts anxiety over appearance.

The study, published in the Journal of Sex Research, looked at couples from across the United States surveyed by pollster Qualtrics.

Results were analysed by adjusting for factors including gender, pornography type and relationship perception.

Overall, the researchers found that people who used pornography were less happy in their relationships, including the lower levels of perceived relationship stability, or how likely the participant thought the relationship would continue.

Dr Willoughby suggested this may be because pornography is more geared towards heterosexual men.

He said: "The general thought is that so much of mainstream pornography is geared toward heterosexual men — that's kind of the core audience.

"As much of the content of pornography emphasises casual sexual encounters and multiple partners, it is possible that regular exposure to these types of sexual messages may alter sexual and relational scripts in ways that weakens stability [in a relationship]."

Scientists also found that pornography use was rarely discussed during couples therapy.