Is porn really that bad? We know that sexy videos can be a teaching tool, get you in the mood and even be something that heats up your sex life with your partner.
But lately, we’ve seen study after study highlighting the negative effects of watching porn. From making people dumber to decreasing your commitment to a relationship, here’s how your porn habit could be tanking your love life.
1. Watching Porn Makes Men Impotent.
Sadly, according to a German study, guys who watch porn regularly are also less likely to get it up. It’s not quite clear if the porn is the cause of the issue, but maybe it’s better for him to tone it down.
2. Viewing Porn Shrinks Your Brain.
It’s pretty obvious that humans like sex because it feels good, so one of the biggest negative effects have to be this one. A study done in Max Planck Institute in Berlin found that there is a link between viewing porn and reductions in brain size and brain activity in response to sexual stimuli. For the sake of your relationship and your brain, it may be time to leave the sexual fantasyland.
3. People Who Watch Porn Not Only Have Severe Relationship Problems, But They Get In Trouble With The Law, Too.
University of Sydney gave a survey and found that users who watch smut excessively have severe social and relationship problems, aren’t good at keeping a job, and have been in trouble with the law due to addiction. None of these characterstics reads “keeper”.
4. Viewing Pornography Decreases Your Commitment To Your Relationship.
Many partners who ask their significant others to stop watching porn sometimes get flack, but perhaps this helps their case. According to Psychology Today, people who stopped looking at adult material became much more committed to their partners.
5. Porn Gives Bad Examples On How To Treat Women.
Sadly, most of the porn that is out there is not geared towards women. That means viewers are more likely to watch degrading acts towards women like seeing them pretend to enjoy sex acts that are actually painful in real life. According to research there is physical aggression in 88 percent of scenes and an average of 12 aggressive acts per scene. So if you try to act like a porn star (which, let’s admit it, many porn viewers do attempt to do so) and you are having sex with a woman, then you are more likely to hurt her and degrade her instead of please her.
6. Men Get Narrower Physical Expectations For Women Due To Porn.
As if the ladies didn’t already have it hard enough to reach society’s photoshopped image of beauty, now there are men who are looking for ladies who “look” like their favorite porn star. Of course, it’s more likely that their favorite porn doesn’t even naturally look like herself because we have seen the powerful before-and-after pictures of those working ladies, but it’s still a standard. According to Pamela Paul’s research in Pornified, 51 percent of Americans believe that pornography raises men’s expectations of how women should look. Hey, just because your girl doesn’t cake on the makeup or have enhanced body parts doesn’t make her any less beautiful!
7. Porn And Depression Have A Connection.
In order to be happy in any relationship you have to be happy with yourself. Well, porn could ruin that since Psychology Today also found that the individuals who watched porn at least three times a week averaged almost 18 on the depression scale, which means they are moderately depressed. Get happier by taking a break from porn and enjoying what else life has to offer.
8. Hiding Your Porn Will Decrease Your Satisfaction In Your Relationship.
Feeling like you have to hide something from your partner would definitely put a damper on your relationship. Turns out that includes your porn videos. Thanks to questionnaires, it was found that couples who were honest about enjoying porn were less stressed and more happy in their relationship. Just get it all out in the open!
9. It Makes You Value Love Less
Sex and lovemaking can be very different. Remember Don Jon? Making love can be slower because you are enjoying the moment with your partner, and it involves eye contact and kissing. Research has shown that because porn represents more aggressive and emotionless sex, viewers begin to crave sex without emotional involvement. And let’s face it, a relationship without lovemaking lacks that special intimacy.
Source: YourTango