The Story

A recent poll shows pornography is affecting relationships between men and women—and reveals how indulging in porn is becoming an acceptable sin.

The Background

A national poll on couples and pornography was commissioned by the Wheatley Institution at Brigham Young University and the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture. The poll finds that a majority of men and women in a national sample express some level of approval for pornography use.

The survey consisted of two national datasets—one with individuals in couple relationships and a second with matched partners for which both partners or spouses completed the survey. The results show who is most likely to use porn, both individually and as a couple.

In dating relationships, women were almost twice as likely as men to report never viewing pornography (36 percent versus 19 percent). Men were also more than two and a half times more likely to be viewing pornography alone in a weekly pattern compared to dating women.

Among those in married relationships, only a quarter of married men reported no current pornography use while over half of all married women reported no pornography use over the last year. A third of married men reported frequent use, but less than 1 in 16 married women reported similar levels. Men under 30 years of age are nearly two and a half times more likely to view pornography on a daily basis than their older peers—17.3 percent compared to 6.9 percent for men over age 30.

Almost 1 in 3 men agree that it’s acceptable for teens to view pornography, compared to only about 1 in 10 women. Roughly half of both men and women agree that pornography viewing is acceptable for adults. The only exception is married women, who are generally less accepting of pornography than both men or women in dating relationships.

One in five couples (20 percent) reported some degree of conflict in their relationships due to pornography. Also, 1 in 4 men reported actively hiding their pornography viewing from their partner. A significant number of women expressed concerns about their partner’s pornography viewing, with almost 1 in 3 dating women reporting they worry about their partner being more attracted to pornography and their partner thinking about pornography while being intimate.

Almost 1 in 3 dating women and 1 in 4 married men and women agreed they were worried that their partner was withholding some details about their pornography viewing.

Couples where both partners report that they don’t use pornography report the highest levels of relationship stability, commitment, and satisfaction. At least 90 percent of these couples report that their relationship is stable, committed, and satisfying to them as a couple.

In contrast, as the frequency of pornography use increases, the relationship stability, commitment, and satisfaction consistently decrease. Lower levels of relationship quality were consistent across couples with a similar level of use between partners (both monthly users and both daily users) and couples with a reported gap in use between the partners.