LOS ANGELES—Women who watch porn more frequently not only suffer no harm to their capacity to function sexually, they actually enjoy better sexual outcomes than women who watch less, or no porn. That’s the finding of a new study by psychologists at Indiana’s Valparaiso University, and at Etovos Lorand University in Hungary, published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Titled “Effects of Pornography Use and Demographic Parameters on Sexual Response during Masturbation and Partnered Sex in Women,” the study of 2,433 women ages 18 and over found that higher rates of porn viewing in women are linked to greater ease and frequency of orgasm while masturbating — as well as less difficulty with arousal and orgasm in sex with partners.
Porn use, however, did not predict whether women were satisfied with their relationships, or with the sex in those relationships, according to the study.
“More frequent pornography use was not associated with lower sexual responsivity,” lead researcher Sean McNabney told the site PsyPost. “In fact, pornography use during masturbation predicted greater ease becoming aroused during partnered sex.”
Though frequent porn viewing benefitted women in both solo and partnered sex, according to the study, the greatest benefits came during masturbation. Frequent porn-watching women reported “less difficulty becoming aroused, less orgasmic difficulty, greater time to orgasm, greater orgasmic pleasure, and higher percent of time reaching orgasm,” according to the PsyPost report.
But in partnered sex, women who watch a lot of porn experienced “less difficulty becoming aroused and greater time to orgasm,” but showed no effect one way or the other in the other three categories.
The study also found that masturbating to porn was most common among pre-menopausal women, American women, women who are not heterosexual or who have two or more sexual partners, and women who experience anxiety or depression.
Though the study did not ask the women who responded about their attitudes toward porn, or whether they considered their porn use problematic, it did find that lower levels of sexual satisfaction were linked to anxiety and depression, and that lower education levels in women correlated with higher levels of difficulty achieving orgasm.
“Some readers may be relieved to learn that pornography use is fairly common among women and is unlikely to interfere with sexual functioning during partnered relationships,” McNabney said. “Other variables such as ongoing anxiety/depression or sexual relationship dissatisfaction appear to more consistently predict sexual problems.”
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