Porn has transformed over the past few decades, due to the availability of the internet and faster web connections. […] What does the evidence actually say about how porn may or may not be affecting people?
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The fundamental question surrounding porn – which resurfaces every time a violent crime involves the perpetrator’s porn use – is whether it has the power to encourage, normalise or even trigger acts of rape and sexual violence.
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[I]n 2010, researchers analysed more than 300 porn scenes and found that 88% contained physical aggression. Most of the perpetrators were male, and their targets female, and the latter’s most common response to aggression was to show pleasure or respond neutrally. […] One review of more than 80 studies in 2009 concluded that evidence of a causal link between porn use and violence is slim.…
Does porn attract more people with sexually aggressive tendencies, those who are in unhappy relationships, those with smaller reward systems in their brain and those with sexual addiction – or does it cause these things? It’s a tricky area to research – but until the answers are more definitive, the evidence so far suggests that the likelihood that porn has a negative effect very much depends on the individual consuming it.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Is porn harmful? The evidence, the myths and the unknowns