Problematic Pornography Use May Be Influenced by Multiple Factors

Around 94% of US men and 87% of US women report they’ve consumed pornography at least once in their lifetime. This may be because porn is increasingly faster, easier, and cheaper to access in the age of the internet. It’s also easier to use porn in private with browser capabilities like private browsing mode, and with personal access to private spaces and headphones.

While the prevalence of problematic pornography use (PPU)is low (3.2-16.6% of people globally), PPU is arguably one of the most prevalent traits associated with compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD). CSBD is characterized as a persistent failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behavior. In the instance of CSBD, PPU use can be described as porn use that is repetitive and beyond control, often causing emotional distress and problems with everyday life.

Currently, there is not much research available in terms of genetic influences on porn use habits. Researchers in the United States recently conducted a study where same sex twin pairs (53 female, 48 male) were surveyed about their porn use and perception.

The survey included questions related to how often they used porn, how often they had masturbated, and how they viewed their porn use in relation to personal and religious values. The survey also included the Brief Porn Screen (BPS), which is used to measure problematic porn use.

The results of each survey section were compared between identical and fraternal twins to determine if genetic or environmental influences were involved. These survey results were plugged into a formula designed to measure genetic, shared environment, and unique environment influences of twin pairs.

Genetic influences are traits the twins share, shared environment influences are learned behaviors shared by the twins, and unique environment influences are learned behaviors each twin experiences separately. This formula helps find the possibility of each of these influences affecting PPU. However, because of how the formula is set up, sometimes variance cannot be found.

Porn Use May Be More Genetic, Perception of Porn Use More Environmental

The results revealed that interest in porn is more related to genetic influences (50% variance in males, 75% variance in females) than environmental influences, although environmental factors still play an important role. For example, among women, general pornography use appeared to be influenced more by shared environmental factors (71%), such as family background, cultural norms, or religious upbringing, while genetic influences were much smaller (4%). Understanding the cause of interest in porn may lead to understanding why porn use progresses to the uncontrollable urge that is PPU. Interestingly, this trend was the same with masturbation. While influences regarding men’s frequency of both porn use and masturbation were undetermined, women were more likely to masturbate and use porn in a shared environment with a partner. Researchers think this may be because porn is geared more toward male audiences, so women are more likely to either avoid using porn or only use it with partners.

With regard to moral and religious influences, both men and women were more heavily influenced by environmental factors. Meaning, genetics plays a smaller role in an individual’s personal perception of their porn use, and the people and social norms around them likely play a larger role in influencing the distress associated with PPU.

Key Takeaways

• PPU is not exclusive to CSBD, but PPU can be a symptom.
• Genetics play a larger role for males in terms of porn use than for females.
  • Women may be less likely to use porn on their own than men are.
• Environmental factors more likely influence disapproval of personal porn use.
  • Treating PPU may need to involve acceptance-based therapies to mitigate the effects of emotional distress.
• Porn use in general is not necessarily a problem, but if it becomes uncontrollable or is causing emotional distress, it may be beneficial to speak with a sexual therapist.

Resources:

Borgogna, N. C., Owen, T., Aita, S. L., & Kraus, S. W. (2026). Pilot evidence of genetic and environmental contributions to problematic pornography use, pornography use frequency, and moral disapproval to pornography. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdaf358