How Porn Could Actually Be Good For Your Sex Life
X-rated material may not be as bad as it seems, new research suggests. (Photo: Getty Images)
Porn gets a bad rap, with some research linking it to intimacy and relationship satisfaction problems among couples. But a small new study suggests it may actually have an added bonus in the bedroom: boosting men’s sexual arousal with their mates.
The study, published in the journal Sexual Medicine, also showed that watching porn is unlikely to cause erectile dysfunction. The UCLA-Concordia University study is the first to test the relationship between how much erotica men are watching and erectile function, according to the researchers.
For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from 280 male volunteers to see what effect porn had on sexual arousal. All of the men reported the average number of hours they watched porn films, which ranged from zero to 25 hours per week. The men then completed a questionnaire to rate their sexual desire. Study participants also watched porn films in the lab involving heterosexual intercourse, and reported their level of sexual arousal afterward.
The findings showed that watching porn did not desensitize men to sex, but actually had an opposite effect. “They are responding more strongly to very vanilla erotica than the guys for whom the films are more novel,” says Nicole Prause, PhD, associate scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA. While the association doesn’t establish a cause, it does show that “viewing erotica at home is not desensitizing, and, perhaps, even sensitized the men to respond more strongly.”
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Other studies have reported watching porn creates erection problems with real-life partners. However, the researchers say their findings show otherwise. “We were very surprised that there was not merely an absence of effect on erections, but men actually reported more sexual arousal when viewing sex films in the lab,” Prause tells Yahoo Health.
“The more [men] view at home, the more likely it is that they are faster at getting a full erection and their subjective arousal is consistent with that,” Jim Pfaus, PhD, study co-author and professor of psychology in neuroscience at Concordia University, tells Yahoo Health. “That kind of calls into question the notion that porn leads to erectile dysfunction.”
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Other porn-erectile dysfunction studies have shown a correlation between ED and excessive time masturbating while watching porn, which can take a toll on relationship intimacy over time. A survey of 28,000 men in Italy, for instance, showed that daily porn watching over a long period of time (the study followed teenagers into early adulthood) was associated with desensitization even to the most violent images, Everyday Health reported. Experts noted that this could lead to problems getting an erection due to decreased libido.
The new study, however, was limited to an upper limit of 25 hours of porn watching per week, which showed a linear positive correlation to sexual desire and erectile function.
Anxiety, cardiovascular conditions, depression, obesity, and side effects from prescription medications are well-known health issues linked to erectile dysfunction.
