Pornography, Sexual Insecurity, and Orgasm Difficulty

• Published in: Health communication Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 552 - 561
• Main Authors: Wright, Paul J., Tokunaga, Robert S., Herbenick, Debby, Paul, Bryant
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 01.03.2023; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Consumption; Erotica; Female; Humans; Insecurity; Male; Orgasm; Polls & surveys; Population studies; Pornography; Pornography & obscenity; Pressure effects; Probability; Questions; Security; Sexual Behavior; Sexual functioning; Sexual Partners; Socialization; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1041-0236; 1532-7027
• DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2021.1958985

While recent meta-analyses have provided answers to a number of historically contentious debates about correlates of pornography use, several questions remain unanswered. Whether pornography is associated with sexual functioning is one such question. Informed by theorizing on sexual scripting, social comparisons, and sexual objectification, the present study examined the possibility that pornography is related to orgasm difficulty through sexual insecurity (i.e., insecurity about one's sexual performance and sexual attractiveness). Data were from the National Survey of Porn Use, Relationships, and Sexual Socialization (NSPRSS), a U.S. population-based probability study. There was an indirect effect of pornography consumption frequency on orgasm difficulty through sexual insecurity. Participants who used pornography more frequently reported higher levels of sexual insecurity, and higher levels of sexual insecurity predicted orgasm difficulty. There was also an indirect effect of partner pressure to view pornography on orgasm difficulty. Higher levels of partner pressure to view pornography were associated with higher levels of sexual insecurity, which in turn predicted orgasm difficulty. Results were indistinguishable by gender and maintained after controlling for a number of potential confounds. These findings suggest that some men and women's personal and (pressured) partnered pornography consumption have the potential to increase orgasm difficulty through bodily and performance insecurity.