Cyberpornography: Time Use, Perceived Addiction, Sexual Functioning, and Sexual Satisfaction

Abstract

Using pornography through the Internet is now a common activity even if associated sexual outcomes, including sexual satisfaction, are highly variable. The present study tested a two-step sequential mediation model whereby cyberpornography time use is related to sexual satisfaction through the association with, in a first step, perceived addiction to cyberpornography (i.e., perceived compulsivity, effort to access, and distress toward pornography) and with, in a second step, sexual functioning problems (i.e., sexual dysfunction, compulsion, and avoidance). These differential associations were also examined across gender using model invariance across men and women. A sample of 832 adults from the community completed self-report online questionnaires. Results indicated that 51 percent of women and 90 percent of men reported viewing pornography through the Internet. Path analyses showed indirect complex associations in which cyberpornography time use is associated with sexual dissatisfaction through perceived addiction and sexual functioning problems. These patterns of associations held for both men and women.

Keywords: addiction; cyberpornography; gender; sexual functioning; sexual satisfaction.