A study into how porn affects men had to be scrapped and radically rethought after experts failed to find any young men who had not watched it.
Originally researchers at the University of Montreal wanted to compare the behavior of men who viewed sexually explicit material with those who had never looked at it all.
Professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse says he had to drastically rethink his study after failing to find any male volunteers who had never viewed porn.
‘The objective of my work is to observe the impact of pornography on the sexuality of men, and how it shapes their perception of men and women,’ Lajeunesse said.
‘We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography but we couldn’t find any.’
Instead Lajeunesse had to refocus his study on the porn viewing behaviors of his subjects.
From the information gathered by his team of researchers, Lajeunesse found that single men typically spend about 40 minutes viewing porn three times a week, while men in committed relationships averaged 20 minute porn viewing sessions 1.7 times a week.
Lajeunesse found most boys seek out pornographic material by the age of 10, when they are most sexually curious. However, they quickly discard what they don’t like and find offensive.
As adults, they will continue to look for content in tune with their image of sexuality. They also rarely consume pornography as a couple and always choose what they watch.
All test subjects said they supported gender equality and felt victimized by rhetoric demonizing pornography.
‘Pornography hasn’t changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible,’ said Lajeunesse.
‘Those who could not live out their fantasy in real life with their partner simply set aside the fantasy. The fantasy is broken in the real world and men don’t want their partner to look like a porn star.’
The research was funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women.
James Gilbert | Elite.
