Partner Knowledge of Solitary Pornography Use: Daily and Longitudinal Associations with Relationship Quality

ABSTRACT

Pornography use is a common sexual activity engaged in mostly alone, including for partnered individuals. Evidence concerning the benefits and costs of solitary pornography use for romantic relationship quality is mixed and may vary depending on the circumstances of pornography use, including partner knowledge of one’s solitary use. Adopting a dyadic daily diary and longitudinal design, we examined the associations between knowledge of a partner’s solitary pornography use and one’s own and the partner’s relationship satisfaction and intimacy on the same day, and trajectories over one year. A convenience sample of 217 couples completed daily surveys over 35 days and self-reported measures three times over one year. Each participant reported if they used pornography today and whether their use was known by their partner. Findings showed that when an individual’s solitary pornography use was unknown by their partner, they reported lower same-day relationship satisfaction and intimacy as well as a lower initial level of relationship satisfaction. When an individual’s solitary pornography use was known, they reported higher intimacy over one year and their partner reported lower intimacy over one year. Findings underscore the complexity of the relational context surrounding solitary pornography use in couples, in particular the partner’s knowledge of pornography use.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jean-François Jodouin, Kathleen Merwin, Kathy Petite, and Mylène Desrosiers for their assistance with data collection.

Author Contributions

M.-P. Vaillancourt-Morel, N. O. Rosen, & S. Bergeron developed the study concept, contributed to the study design, and performed data collection. M.-P. Vaillancourt-Morel and B. Bőthe performed the data analysis and interpretation. M.-P. Vaillancourt-Morel and B. Bőthe drafted the manuscript and all authors provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript submission.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to Sophie Bergeron. Sophie Bergeron is supported by a Canada Research Chair and Natalie O. Rosen was supported by a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Beáta Bőthe was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the SCOUP Team – Sexuality and Couples – Fonds de recherche du Québec, Société et Culture.