"In North America, Europe and Australia, 70 to 94 per cent of adults have used pornography at some point in their lives. "A lot of people watch pornography," said Bőthe, whose 79 co-authors include members of the International Sex Survey consortium in the U.S., China, Europe and other parts of the globe. Importantly, the study clarifies that feeling guilty for consuming pornography doesn’t necessarily mean someone is actually a problematic user.īeáta Bőthe Credit: Amélie Philibert, Université de Montréal This misuse starts to have serious negative impacts on their lives, including losing jobs or feeling significant distress. In their findings, largely based on surveys and questionnaires, UdeM assistant professor of psychology Beáta Bőthe and her colleagues focus on what experts call 'problematic pornography use' or PPU, where people can't control their use of pornography.
Published in the journal Addiction, the research stands out because, among the 82,000 people in 42 countries studied, it looks at groups that were often overlooked in the past, including women and individuals who don't fit traditional gender categories. A major international study led by a Canadian psychologist sheds light on a hidden phenomenon: how problematic use of pornography is affecting people in different parts of the world, across various genders and sexual orientations.