Nearly universal Internet access has made pornography more widely available than ever, a trend that some experts say could have major negative effects on people’s lives and intimate relationships.
As many as 90 percent of respondents in a 2012 survey by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation said they started watching pornographic videos when they were minors, foundation head Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
The survey solicited responses from 1,676 people aged 21 to 30, of which 341 were women.
Photo: CNA
A total of 79 percent of respondents said they watch porn on a weekly basis, while 22 percent watch it at least once a day, Kang said.
Ana J. Bridges, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arkansas in the US, has done 12 years of research on the effects of viewing pornography.
Bridges, who is in Taipei for an international forum on porn and sex education, said that her research shows higher porn exposure is associated with a decreased commitment to one’s life partner, lower self-esteem, lower happiness in relationships, less enjoyment of sex and a higher reliance on porn to obtain and maintain sexual arousal.
Moreover, the porn industry has grown exponentially alongside advances in technology, she said, and it now sees annual sales amounting to tens of billions of US dollars.
“Moving from print to video to the Internet, pornography is now more diverse, much less expensive and much easier to access,” she said.
“It appears that higher availability of pornography is negatively affecting users and their partners,” she said.
Sun Chyng-feng, a clinical associate professor at New York University’s School of continuing and professional studies, said a recent online poll by Bridges and other experts showed that respondents who watch porn more often are more likely to engage in consensual aggressive sexual acts, such as choking, mock rape, binding, slapping, group sex and sex with multiple partners at the same time.
That poll surveyed 1,880 heterosexuals in the US, most of whom were university students.
Wilbert Weerd, a self-described “pornography addiction” specialist from the Netherlands, said lack of love and attention from parents, sexual trauma and loneliness are common reasons that people become what he called “addicted to pornography.”
Describing himself as a former “porn addict,” Weerd said watching pornography releases a wave of endorphins in the brain that makes the viewer feel better for a while, but later causes a crash that leaves the viewer feeling weak, out of control, lonely and “empty.”
He advised people who feel they may be addicted to seek therapy.
“Often a porn addict is not really longing for porn, but for something else,” he said.
Kang said her group plans a series of forums, lectures, screenings and study groups this year to raise awareness of the effects of porn, alongside a Web site for discussion.
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