Complexity in Emerging Adults’ Emotional Reactions to Pornography Use: It Is Not All Good or Bad

Abstract

Little is known about how emerging adults respond emotionally to pornography use. Using a two-study approach, we first examined emerging adults’ (N = 269) positive and negative emotional reactions to their own pornography use. Study 2 (N = 517) extended these findings by (a) examining how these emotional reactions are related to well-being and (b) exploring the various ways pornography use can interfere with life. Mixed findings from these two studies demonstrate both positive and negative outcomes for emerging adult men and women. The differential emotional experiences of pornography use and its effects on emerging adults’ lives merit further investigation.

Keywords:

• Pornography use
• emerging adulthood
• emotional reactions
• psychological distress
• life satisfaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.