And we all thought it was part of a healthy sex life!? Well, studies have shown that this pretty normal sex habit can up your chances of divorce…
Till porn do us part?
Who would have thought… According to Eureka Alert, dipping your toe into pornography is associated with a fairly mega increase in your chances of divorce – and this increase is especially large for women!
“Beginning pornography use between survey waves nearly doubled one’s likelihood of being divorced by the next survey period, from six percent to 11 percent, and nearly tripled it for women, from six percent to 16 percent,” said sociologist Samuel Perry, the lead author of the study. “Our results suggest that viewing pornography, under certain social conditions, may have negative effects on marital stability.”
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The study
Bear with us here… The study interviewed respondents three times about their porn use and marital status – every two years – in what were called survey waves. The aim: to follow initially married respondents’ change in pornography use and marital status between waves. The study then isolated the connection between those who started watching porn and the probability of them being divorced by the next wave, compared to the probability of divorce among those who didn’t watch porn at all.
Other factors that come into play…
1. Age
While beginning to watch porn upped your probability of divorce, the increase was greater for younger adults. Yup, the younger an adult was when he or she began watching pornography, the higher his or her probability of getting divorced by the next survey wave.
“Younger [couples] tend to view pornography more often than older [couples], and older [couples] generally have more stable marriages since they tend to be more mature, financially established and likely already have more time invested in the relationship,” Perry said. “So, we thought it made perfect sense that the effect of pornography use on divorce would grow weaker with age.”
2. Religion
Pressing play on that “blue” movie was also associated with a greater negative impact on the marriages of those who were less religious. Those who attended religious services at least weekly saw virtually no increase in their chance of divorce once they started watching porn.
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3. If you were happy to begin with
Respondents’ initially reported level of marital happiness was critical in determining the part porn played in divorce. Among those who said they were “very happy” in their marriage in the first survey wave, delving into porn before the next survey was associated with a big increase – from three percent to 12 percent – in the likelihood of getting divorced by the time of the next survey.
But… Ogling the screen had no statistically significant association for those who reported lower marital happiness initially. “We took this to mean that pornography use – perhaps if it’s discovered by one’s spouse unexpectedly – could rock an otherwise happy marriage to the point of divorce, but it doesn’t seem to make an unhappy marriage any worse than it already is,” Perry said.
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And what happens when you quit the porn?
Ditching porn was associated with a lowered risk of divorce for women. Women who reported viewing pornography in an initial survey wave and in the subsequent wave had an 18 percent probability of being divorced, compared to a six percent probability for women who stopped watching between waves. But, among men, diverting their eyes from the screen had no statistically significant association, which the researchers said might be due to the fact that men tend to be more consistent in their pornography use, resulting in a smaller sample size for observing a possible connection.
In terms of the study’s implications, the researchers said their findings could help couples make more informed decisions about factors that may affect their marriages, but emphasised that they are not suggesting a policy revision is in order. “We have no desire to push a ‘ban pornography’ agenda on the grounds that it can be harmful to marriages,” Perry said. “Neither one of us is on a moral crusade. We think information is helpful, and [couples] should be aware of the potential consequences of pornography under certain circumstances.”
Looking for more? Read this woman’s story of watching porn with her boyfriend for the first time.
