Episode 184: The Truth About “Porn Addiction”

How does porn affect us? And are people becoming “addicted” to it? Today, we’re going to begin a four-part series on the science of porn to better understand its effects. For our first show, we’re going to discuss why different studies of porn have yielded different conclusions, why porn shouldn’t be thought of as addictive in the same way that drugs are, whether there’s a link between porn and sexual violence, as well as how we can have more productive conversations about pornography. I’m joined by Dr. Nicole Prause, a licensed psychologist and sex researcher who founded the sexual biotechnology company Liberos. She is a former Kinsey Institute trainee and has published an extensive body of research on the neuroscience and psychophysiology of sex. She is currently a scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Medicine. Some of the topics we discuss on this show include: What counts as porn anyway, and how can you accurately measure porn use on surveys when different people hold different definitions of porn? Why are there so many discrepant findings in the scientific literature about pornography’s effects? Why shouldn’t we think of porn as addictive? How should we think of it instead? When people identify porn as a problem in their lives, is porn per se really the issue or is there something else going on? In what ways can porn potentially have positive effects on people? Learn more about Nicole and her work over at Liberos and follow her on Twitter @NicoleRPrause. Thank you to our sponsors! Check out FirmTech, awarded “most innovative sex toy of the year” by XBIZ! FirmTech’s Performance Ring is designed to boost your sexual stamina and give you harder, longer-lasting erections, while also enhancing pleasure. Their Tech Ring has the added benefit of tracking your erectile health. Visit myfirmtech.com and be sure to use my exclusive discount code Justin20 to save 20% off your purchase.  Visiting Miami? Check out two art exhibitions from the Kinsey Institute on display at the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum located in the heart of South Beach at 1205 S Washing Ave. Open Monday to Saturday 11am – 6pm. Learn more about upcoming events at kinseyinstitute.org or follow the Kinsey Institute on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. *** Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology? Click here for previous articles or follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit to receive updates. You can also follow Dr. Lehmiller on YouTube and Instagram. Listen and stream all episodes on Apple, Spotify, Google, or Amazon. Subscribe to automatically receive new episodes and please rate and review the podcast! Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.