Summary: Only if you think its use is morally wrong!

A study published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy suggests that pornography use by individuals engaged in monogamous relationships is not necessarily associated with negative psychological consequences.
Advertising message It would seem, in fact, that the negative consequences given by the use of pornography depend on the moral convictions of the consumer (Guidry et al., 2020).
With pornography becoming more accessible, scientific interest in the consequences of its use has also increased.
Previous research has found both positive and negative effects associated with using this material.
The study authors wanted to explore whether this variation in results might have to do with individual consumer's perceptions of pornography use and, in particular, their moral beliefs (Guidry et al., 2020).
Moral disapproval and pornography are relatively new areas of research and little data exists regarding pornography consumption, factors associated with psychological distress, and moral disapproval.
A lack of congruence between one's beliefs, religion and behavior, as can be experienced in the act of consuming pornography, often results in psychological distress (Guidry et al., 2020).
To study the influence that their beliefs and values have on the consequences of pornography use, a search was conducted through an online survey, the sample was made up of men and women between the ages of 18 and 73.
Inclusion criteria included: being currently in a monogamous relationship and having access to pornography in the past six months, given these selection criteria, 287 subjects were eligible, who filled out questionnaires related to measuring anxiety, depression, relationship satisfaction and attachment to the romantic partner.
The survey also asked respondents how many times they have accessed online pornography in the past month and measured their moral disapproval of pornography using questions such as: Viewing pornography online violates my personal values (Guidry et al., 2020 ).
The results showed that pornography use is related to both anxiety and depression, however this relationship mediated by moral disapproval, therefore, the negative effects of pornography use manifest themselves in those who believe that the use of this material is morally wrong. .
Frequency of pornography use is not associated with lower relationship satisfaction (Guidry et al., 2020).
However, pornography use was found to be indirectly negatively associated with relationship satisfaction through depression and this indirect link was moderated by moral disapproval.
In other words, the findings suggest that high levels of pornography use coupled with high levels of pornography moral disapproval positively predict an increase in depression levels, which predicts a subsequent decrease in relationship satisfaction (Guidry et al., 2020).
The researchers of the aforementioned study recognize the limitations of the tested model, given that, assuming that they infer causal relationships, however, being a transversal and correlational study, it is not possible to reach this type of conclusion, a longitudinal study would in fact be necessary, so to understand the exact direction of the variables and especially the causal relationships between them (Guidry et al., 2020).
(votes: 6, average: 3.00 out of 5)
Subject of the article: Psychology
Some studies have reported an association between pornography use and negative psychological consequences while others seem not to show any.
Guidry, R., Floyd, C.
G., Volk, F., & Moen, C.
AND.
(2020).
The Exacerbating Impact of Moral Disapproval on the Relationship Between Pornography Use and Depression, Anxiety, and Relationship Satisfaction.
Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 46 (2), 103-121.
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