But What’s Your Partner Up to? Associations Between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use Within the Couple

It is commonly assumed that exposure to pornography harms relationships because changes the way individuals think, feel, and behave in problematic ways. In current research, we contribute a small but growing body of work challenges this assumption by carefully scrutinizing relational context use. contrast dominant theoretical explanations field, argue at least some apparent negative “impacts” use on relationship quality may reflect partner dissimilarity behavior rather than consequences such materials. Moreover, further examine particular type – shared with which previous evidence suggests be positively associated quality. To end, sought test whether dyadic patterns use, related attributes, were sexual satisfaction two cross-sectional ( N 1 = 200; 3 207) longitudinal 2 77; 4 277) samples heterosexual couples. Across these samples, found consistent partners who watch together report higher do not, notably, association was not moderated gender. Independent association, also similarity-dissimilarity effect, solitary one negatively their own satisfaction, only cases where romantic used little or no alone. Further consideration several correlates established comparable results for attitudes toward pornography, erotophobia-erotophilia, preferences, sex drive. Importantly, drive statistically accounted suggesting differences implicated associations between These findings demonstrate links health are partially function different within couples always suggest harm.