Abstract
Pornography can be used through multiple media and its associations with couples’ relationship and sexual satisfaction are mixed. The aims of this study were to examine the proportion of use of different pornographic media (i.e., videos, pictures, audio material, and written material), including different contents (i.e., sexual activities and nudity), gender-based differences in the frequency of use of these media, and the associations between an individual’s frequency of use of different pornographic media and their own and their partner’s sexual and relationship satisfaction, considering potential gender differences. A sample of 706 adult couples (1368 participants; Mage = 32.19 years) completed online self-report questionnaires. Results of actor-partner interdependence models indicated that video use was associated with lower relationship and sexual satisfaction, and partners’ lower sexual satisfaction. Picture use was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and partners’ lower sexual satisfaction. Written material use was associated with lower sexual satisfaction. Cisgender women’s audio use was associated with their own higher sexual satisfaction, whereas cisgender men’s audio use was associated with their partner’s lower sexual satisfaction. These findings suggest different associations with sexual and relationship satisfaction depending on the pornographic media.
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Funding
This study was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Société et culture to Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel. Marie-Chloé Nolin is supported by a fellowship from the SSHRC. Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel is supported by a Research Chair from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and a career award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Santé (FRQ-S). The data, material, and code related to this study are available upon request to the last author.
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Nolin, MC., Bőthe, B., Villeneuve, E. et al. Associations Between Pornography Use Through Different Media and Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction Among Cohabiting Couples. Arch Sex Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02899-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02899-1