Questioning Pornography – Details, episodes & analysis

John Carr, OBE, is a globally recognized expert on child safety; he is working towards implementing age verification legislation in the UK aimed at protecting children from exposure to online pornography.  My friend Alexander is skeptical that age verification for pornography websites can really be effective. In this episode, Alexander raises his concerns and tough questions and John Carr responds.

Questions discussed include: With millions of porn websites currently existing and hundreds more popping up every day, how can governments hope to monitor all these sites for compliance? Is it a valid argument to say that since age verification works for online gambling sites, it can work for porn sites? What would have the biggest impact: requiring porn websites to age verify users, or requiring search engines to age-gate pornographic content?

If you enjoy these conversations, please consider supporting me on Patreon to help me continue producing episodes.

Within the field of pornography research, longitudinal data is arguably the most robust evidence one can get for causation. The paper highlighted in today's episode is a review of various longitudinal studies which examine the impact pornography consumption has on adolescents. 

Paper Highlighted: Longitudinal associations between the use of sexually explicit material and adolescents' attitudes and behaviors: A narrative review of studies by Goran Koletic

For further research on pornography's impact on adolescents see this webpage

For a more thorough discussion of causation vs. correlation in pornography research and the advantages of longitudinal studies, I recommend you listen to this episode.

If you enjoy these conversations, please consider supporting me on Patreon to help me continue producing episodes.

In this episode I highlight a longitudinal study which finds that pornography consumption can lead to more positive attitudes towards extramarital sex (ie. being married and thinking it's okay to have sex with someone other than your spouse). This longitudinal study explicitly tests whether the causal direction runs from porn consumption --> the attitudes or from the attitudes --> porn consumption, and finds strong evidence for the former.

If you have not already listened to these past 2 research highlight episodes, I highly recommend you do so first, as they will provide you with important background knowledge for understanding this study: 

1) Dr. Paul Wright on Overcontrolling for 3rd Variables

2) Dr. Paul Wright on Selective Exposure vs. Sexual Socialization

If you enjoy the Questioning Pornography podcast, please consider supporting me on Patreon to help me cover the costs of producing these episodes.

I'm delighted to share this conversation with my friend Alexander, the person who caused this podcast to come into existence. Alexander speaks to how pornography affected his mentality towards women and relationships, and how he noticed radical and "beautiful" improvements since quitting pornography and masturbation.

If you enjoy the Questioning Pornography podcast, please consider supporting me on Patreon to help me cover the costs of producing these episodes.

Francesca Palazzolo is the author of a study I highlighted in a previous research episode, which explores the various negative effects that problematic users of internet pornography can experience. She is also an addiction counsellor and psychotherapist who has front-lines experience working with clients who struggle with porn addiction. In our conversation, we discuss such questions as: the controversy over the word "addiction", the popular trend of citing a single study to "debunk porn addiction" and the flaws in that study, taking a holistic approach in addiction counselling, and more.

Further resources/links of interest:

Research Highlight Episode on Francesca's study

Francesca's blog post on why the word "addiction" is so controversial

Peer Reviewed Critiques of Nicole Prause's 2015 study 

Reboot Nation: An excellent forum for those trying to quit porn and/or their partners

It's the classic question of what came first, the chicken or the egg? Do people with certain beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours gravitate towards viewing pornography, or does viewing pornography influence the development of those beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours? In this episode, I highlight a Letter by Dr. Paul Wright in which he explains what the research has to say on this topic 

Read Dr. Wright's Letter here 

If you enjoy the Questioning Pornography podcast, please consider supporting me on Patreon to help me cover the costs of producing these episodes.

Paul Lavergne, registered psychotherapist specializing in compulsive sexual behaviours, shares his insights from working with clients who struggle with compulsive pornography use. In addition to discussing the negative impact compulsive pornography consumption has on his clients' lives, Paul speaks to the negative impact it has on their romantic partners. 

If any of our listeners wish to seek therapy with Paul, his information is as follows: 

turningpoint4me@gmail.com

705-868-8896

https://www.turningpoint4me.com/

Paul's Youtube channel

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting Questioning Pornography on Patreon to help me cover the cost of producing these episodes.

In this episode we highlight a Letter by Dr. Paul Wright in which he explains a tendency amongst pornography researchers to over-control for 3rd variables, and how this leads to skewed results. 

Letter Highlighted: 

Dr. Paul Wright: Overcontrol in Pornography Research

If you enjoy the Questioning Pornography podcast, please consider offering support on Patreon to help me cover the cost of producing these episodes. 

Dr. Darryl Mead, the Chair of The Reward Foundation, speaks about his research into the Pornography Industry. Questions discussed: How big is the industry? What are its consumer demographics? Its business practices and ways of making money? We also discuss possible avenues for reducing the harm caused by the pornography industry. 

This recently published study finds an association between pornography consumption, dehumanizing views of women, and sexually aggressive attitudes and behaviours. It explains two different types of dehumanization -- mechanistic and animalistic -- and how each mediate the relationship with sexually aggressive attitudes and behaviours differently.

Study highlighted: 

Pornography Use, Two Forms of Dehumanization, and Sexual Aggression: Attitudes vs. Behaviors: Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy: Vol 0, No 0 (tandfonline.com)

Further Research on Porn influencing Sexual Aggression: 

Studies linking porn use to sexual offending, sexual aggression, and sexual coercion – Your Brain On Porn

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting Questioning Pornography on Patreon to help me cover the cost of producing these episodes.