USA – A new national survey published today reports that one in five couples have experienced conflict in their relationship related to pornography and that porn use is generally associated with lower relationship quality. About 25 percent of men in the study reported actively hiding porn use from their partner, and even higher percentages of women raised concerns that their partner was hiding his porn use.
Researchers found that couples in which both partners reported no porn use had the highest levels of relationship stability, commitment, and satisfaction. More than 90 percent of respondents in such a partnership reported that their relationship was highly stable, committed, and satisfying. Furthermore, the survey found a consistent decline in stability, commitment, and satisfaction as the relative frequency of porn use increased. Couples in which both partners reported viewing porn on a daily basis, for instance, had a 45 percent decrease in stability and a 30 percent decrease in commitment compared with couples reporting no porn use.
This is the first major study to include matched couples as its subjects, allowing researchers to track responses from both male and female partners.
