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Visual Sexual Stimuli (porn) and Sexual Functioning: The Research

Recent literature examining the correlation between viewing visual sexual stimuli and sexual functioning shows:

Latent growth curve analyses demonstrated no significant relationships between any pornography-related variables and trajectories of erectile dysfunction (Grubbs, 2019).

We found little evidence of the association between pornography use and male sexual health disturbances. Contrary to raising public concerns, pornography does not seem to be a significant risk factor for younger men's desire, erectile, or orgasmic difficulties (Landripet, I., & Štulhofer, A. 2015).

Viewing pornography/visual sexual stimuli within the range of hours tested in this study is unlikely to negatively impact sexual functioning, given that sexual responses actually were stronger in those who viewed more pornography/visual sexual stimuli (Prause, N., & Pfaus, J. (2015).

The finding of delayed ejaculation, rather than erectile dysfunction as the primary reported complaint is interesting in the context of media hype that pornography viewing is linked to erectile dysfunction. Although there are clinical accounts and emotionally charged media and self-help sites propagating this belief (e.g., The Doctor Oz Show, January 31, 2013; James & O’Shea, March 30, 2014; yourbrainonporn.com), there are no empirical data to support the notion that pornography viewing causes erectile dysfunction (Sutton, K. S., Stratton, N., Pytyck, J., Kolla, N. J., & Cantor, J. M. 2015).

For most people, watching porn does not replace or hinder sex with a partner. In fact, people who watch porn more often also have sex with a partner more often. Porn viewing in the last six months was not related to sexual problems (Seksuele gezondheid in Nederland 2017. Sexual health in the Netherlands 2017).

We did not find support for the original finding that exposure to attractive images of opposite-sex others affects males' ratings of their partners' sexual attractiveness or love for their partner (Balzarini, R. N., Dobson, K., Chin, K., & Campbell, L. 2017).



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