Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study

Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan; Hagit Feder; Léna Nagy; Mónika Koós; Shane W. Kraus; Zsolt Demetrovics; Marc N. Potenza; Rafael Ballester-Arnal; Dominik Batthyány; Sophie Bergeron; Joël Billieux; Peer Briken; Julius Burkauskas; Georgina Cárdenas-López; Joana Carvalho; Jesús Castro-Calvo; Lijun Chen; Giacomo Ciocca; Ornella Corazza; Rita I. Csako; David P. Fernandez; Elaine F. Fernandez; Hironobu Fujiwara; Johannes Fuss; Roman Gabrhelík; Biljana Gjoneska; Mateusz Gola; Joshua B. Grubbs; Hashim T. Hashim; Md. Saiful Islam; Mustafa Ismail; Martha C. Jiménez-Martínez; Tanja Jurin; Ondrej Kalina; Verena Klein; András Költő; Chih-Ting Lee; Sang-Kyu Lee; Karol Lewczuk; Chung-Ying Lin; Christine Lochner; Silvia López-Alvarado; Kateřina Lukavská; Percy Mayta-Tristán; Dan J. Miller; Oľga Orosová; Gábor Orosz; Fernando P. Ponce; Gonzalo R. Quintana; Gabriel C. Quintero Garzola; Jano Ramos-Diaz; Kévin Rigaud; Ann Rousseau; Marco De Tubino Scanavino; Marion K. Schulmeyer; Pratap Sharan; Mami Shibata; Sheikh Shoib; Vera Sigre-Leirós; Luke Sniewski; Ognen Spasovski; Vesta Steibliene; Dan J. Stein; Julian Strizek; Aleksandar Štulhofer; Berk C. Ünsal; Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel; Marie Claire Van Hout; Beáta Bőthe

doi:10.1556/2006.2024.00040

Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study

Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, Hagit Feder, Léna Nagy, Mónika Koós, Shane W. Kraus, Zsolt Demetrovics, Marc N. Potenza, Rafael Ballester-Arnal, Dominik Batthyány, Sophie Bergeron, Joël Billieux, Peer Briken, Julius Burkauskas, Georgina Cárdenas-López, Joana Carvalho, Jesús Castro-Calvo, Lijun Chen, Giacomo Ciocca, Ornella Corazza, Rita I. CsakoDavid P. Fernandez, Elaine F. Fernandez, Hironobu Fujiwara, Johannes Fuss, Roman Gabrhelík, Biljana Gjoneska, Mateusz Gola, Joshua B. Grubbs, Hashim T. Hashim, Md. Saiful Islam, Mustafa Ismail, Martha C. Jiménez-Martínez, Tanja Jurin, Ondrej Kalina, Verena Klein, András Költő, Chih-Ting Lee, Sang-Kyu Lee, Karol Lewczuk, Chung-Ying Lin, Christine Lochner, Silvia López-Alvarado, Kateřina Lukavská, Percy Mayta-Tristán, Dan J. Miller, Oľga Orosová, Gábor Orosz, Fernando P. Ponce, Gonzalo R. Quintana, Gabriel C. Quintero Garzola, Jano Ramos-Diaz, Kévin Rigaud, Ann Rousseau, Marco De Tubino Scanavino, Marion K. Schulmeyer, Pratap Sharan, Mami Shibata, Sheikh Shoib, Vera Sigre-Leirós, Luke Sniewski, Ognen Spasovski, Vesta Steibliene, Dan J. Stein, Julian Strizek, Aleksandar Štulhofer, Berk C. Ünsal, Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel, Marie Claire Van Hout, Beáta Bőthe

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Abstract

Background and aims
Despite a growing body of research on pornography use among women, there is a lack of understanding of the problematic versus non-problematic nature. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between women's motivations for pornography use and sexual wellbeing using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design among participants from 42 countries.

Methods
The total sample included 82,243 participants, of whom 46,874 (57.0%) identified as women and were analyzed. The participants' age averaged at M = 29.67 years, with a standard deviation of SD = 10.11. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their motivations for pornography use, as well as measures of sexual functioning, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction.

Results
Study results suggest that across cultures, women's motivations for pornography use are associated with their sexual wellbeing. Specifically, when women reported using pornography for their own pleasure or sexual curiosity, it was associated with fewer sexual functioning problems and higher sexual desire. Conversely, when women reported using pornography due to a lack of sexual satisfaction in their relationships, it was associated with more sexual functioning problems.

Discussion and conclusions
These findings highlight the need to consider the multifaceted nature of pornography use among women, including the usage motives, to fully understand associations with sexual wellbeing. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of conducting further research utilizing longitudinal designs, to establish the directionality between pornography use motivations and sexual wellbeing among women.

Original language	English
Article number	40
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Early online date	12 Feb 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2024.00040
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 12 Feb 2025

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© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Final published version, 1.54 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

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Gewirtz-Meydan, A., Feder, H., Nagy, L., Koós, M., Kraus, S. W., Demetrovics, Z., Potenza, M. N., Ballester-Arnal, R., Batthyány, D., Bergeron, S., Billieux, J., Briken, P., Burkauskas, J., Cárdenas-López, G., Carvalho, J., Castro-Calvo, J., Chen, L., Ciocca, G., Corazza, O., ... Bőthe, B. (2025). Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 1-17. Article 40. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2024.00040

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title = "Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study",

abstract = "Background and aimsDespite a growing body of research on pornography use among women, there is a lack of understanding of the problematic versus non-problematic nature. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between women's motivations for pornography use and sexual wellbeing using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design among participants from 42 countries.MethodsThe total sample included 82,243 participants, of whom 46,874 (57.0%) identified as women and were analyzed. The participants' age averaged at M = 29.67 years, with a standard deviation of SD = 10.11. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their motivations for pornography use, as well as measures of sexual functioning, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction.ResultsStudy results suggest that across cultures, women's motivations for pornography use are associated with their sexual wellbeing. Specifically, when women reported using pornography for their own pleasure or sexual curiosity, it was associated with fewer sexual functioning problems and higher sexual desire. Conversely, when women reported using pornography due to a lack of sexual satisfaction in their relationships, it was associated with more sexual functioning problems.Discussion and conclusionsThese findings highlight the need to consider the multifaceted nature of pornography use among women, including the usage motives, to fully understand associations with sexual wellbeing. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of conducting further research utilizing longitudinal designs, to establish the directionality between pornography use motivations and sexual wellbeing among women.",

author = "Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan and Hagit Feder and L{\'e}na Nagy and M{\'o}nika Ko{\'o}s and Kraus, {Shane W.} and Zsolt Demetrovics and Potenza, {Marc N.} and Rafael Ballester-Arnal and Dominik Batthy{\'a}ny and Sophie Bergeron and Jo{\"e}l Billieux and Peer Briken and Julius Burkauskas and Georgina C{\'a}rdenas-L{\'o}pez and Joana Carvalho and Jes{\'u}s Castro-Calvo and Lijun Chen and Giacomo Ciocca and Ornella Corazza and Csako, {Rita I.} and Fernandez, {David P.} and Fernandez, {Elaine F.} and Hironobu Fujiwara and Johannes Fuss and Roman Gabrhel{\'i}k and Biljana Gjoneska and Mateusz Gola and Grubbs, {Joshua B.} and Hashim, {Hashim T.} and Islam, {Md. Saiful} and Mustafa Ismail and Jim{\'e}nez-Mart{\'i}nez, {Martha C.} and Tanja Jurin and Ondrej Kalina and Verena Klein and Andr{\'a}s K{\"o}lt{\H o} and Chih-Ting Lee and Sang-Kyu Lee and Karol Lewczuk and Chung-Ying Lin and Christine Lochner and Silvia L{\'o}pez-Alvarado and Kate{\v r}ina Lukavsk{\'a} and Percy Mayta-Trist{\'a}n and Miller, {Dan J.} and O{\v I}ga Orosov{\'a} and G{\'a}bor Orosz and Ponce, {Fernando P.} and Quintana, {Gonzalo R.} and {Quintero Garzola}, {Gabriel C.} and Jano Ramos-Diaz and K{\'e}vin Rigaud and Ann Rousseau and {De Tubino Scanavino}, Marco and Schulmeyer, {Marion K.} and Pratap Sharan and Mami Shibata and Sheikh Shoib and Vera Sigre-Leir{\'o}s and Luke Sniewski and Ognen Spasovski and Vesta Steibliene and Stein, {Dan J.} and Julian Strizek and Aleksandar {\v S}tulhofer and {\"U}nsal, {Berk C.} and Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel and {Van Hout}, {Marie Claire} and Be{\'a}ta B{\H o}the",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ",

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doi = "10.1556/2006.2024.00040",

language = "English",

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journal = "Journal of Behavioral Addictions",

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Gewirtz-Meydan, A, Feder, H, Nagy, L, Koós, M, Kraus, SW, Demetrovics, Z, Potenza, MN, Ballester-Arnal, R, Batthyány, D, Bergeron, S, Billieux, J, Briken, P, Burkauskas, J, Cárdenas-López, G, Carvalho, J, Castro-Calvo, J, Chen, L, Ciocca, G, Corazza, O, Csako, RI, Fernandez, DP, Fernandez, EF, Fujiwara, H, Fuss, J, Gabrhelík, R, Gjoneska, B, Gola, M, Grubbs, JB, Hashim, HT, Islam, MS, Ismail, M, Jiménez-Martínez, MC, Jurin, T, Kalina, O, Klein, V, Költő, A, Lee, C-T, Lee, S-K, Lewczuk, K, Lin, C-Y, Lochner, C, López-Alvarado, S, Lukavská, K, Mayta-Tristán, P, Miller, DJ, Orosová, O, Orosz, G, Ponce, FP, Quintana, GR, Quintero Garzola, GC, Ramos-Diaz, J, Rigaud, K, Rousseau, A, De Tubino Scanavino, M, Schulmeyer, MK, Sharan, P, Shibata, M, Shoib, S, Sigre-Leirós, V, Sniewski, L, Spasovski, O, Steibliene, V, Stein, DJ, Strizek, J, Štulhofer, A, Ünsal, BC, Vaillancourt-Morel, M-P, Van Hout, MC & Bőthe, B 2025, 'Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study', Journal of Behavioral Addictions, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2024.00040

TY - JOUR

T1 - Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study

AU - Gewirtz-Meydan, Ateret

AU - Feder, Hagit

AU - Nagy, Léna

AU - Koós, Mónika

AU - Kraus, Shane W.

AU - Demetrovics, Zsolt

AU - Potenza, Marc N.

AU - Ballester-Arnal, Rafael

AU - Batthyány, Dominik

AU - Bergeron, Sophie

AU - Billieux, Joël

AU - Briken, Peer

AU - Burkauskas, Julius

AU - Cárdenas-López, Georgina

AU - Carvalho, Joana

AU - Castro-Calvo, Jesús

AU - Chen, Lijun

AU - Ciocca, Giacomo

AU - Corazza, Ornella

AU - Csako, Rita I.

AU - Fernandez, David P.

AU - Fernandez, Elaine F.

AU - Fujiwara, Hironobu

AU - Fuss, Johannes

AU - Gabrhelík, Roman

AU - Gjoneska, Biljana

AU - Gola, Mateusz

AU - Grubbs, Joshua B.

AU - Hashim, Hashim T.

AU - Islam, Md. Saiful

AU - Ismail, Mustafa

AU - Jiménez-Martínez, Martha C.

AU - Jurin, Tanja

AU - Kalina, Ondrej

AU - Klein, Verena

AU - Költő, András

AU - Lee, Chih-Ting

AU - Lee, Sang-Kyu

AU - Lewczuk, Karol

AU - Lin, Chung-Ying

AU - Lochner, Christine

AU - López-Alvarado, Silvia

AU - Lukavská, Kateřina

AU - Mayta-Tristán, Percy

AU - Miller, Dan J.

AU - Orosová, Oľga

AU - Orosz, Gábor

AU - Ponce, Fernando P.

AU - Quintana, Gonzalo R.

AU - Quintero Garzola, Gabriel C.

AU - Ramos-Diaz, Jano

AU - Rigaud, Kévin

AU - Rousseau, Ann

AU - De Tubino Scanavino, Marco

AU - Schulmeyer, Marion K.

AU - Sharan, Pratap

AU - Shibata, Mami

AU - Shoib, Sheikh

AU - Sigre-Leirós, Vera

AU - Sniewski, Luke

AU - Spasovski, Ognen

AU - Steibliene, Vesta

AU - Stein, Dan J.

AU - Strizek, Julian

AU - Štulhofer, Aleksandar

AU - Ünsal, Berk C.

AU - Vaillancourt-Morel, Marie-Pier

AU - Van Hout, Marie Claire

AU - Bőthe, Beáta

N1 - © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

PY - 2025/2/12

Y1 - 2025/2/12

N2 - Background and aimsDespite a growing body of research on pornography use among women, there is a lack of understanding of the problematic versus non-problematic nature. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between women's motivations for pornography use and sexual wellbeing using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design among participants from 42 countries.MethodsThe total sample included 82,243 participants, of whom 46,874 (57.0%) identified as women and were analyzed. The participants' age averaged at M = 29.67 years, with a standard deviation of SD = 10.11. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their motivations for pornography use, as well as measures of sexual functioning, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction.ResultsStudy results suggest that across cultures, women's motivations for pornography use are associated with their sexual wellbeing. Specifically, when women reported using pornography for their own pleasure or sexual curiosity, it was associated with fewer sexual functioning problems and higher sexual desire. Conversely, when women reported using pornography due to a lack of sexual satisfaction in their relationships, it was associated with more sexual functioning problems.Discussion and conclusionsThese findings highlight the need to consider the multifaceted nature of pornography use among women, including the usage motives, to fully understand associations with sexual wellbeing. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of conducting further research utilizing longitudinal designs, to establish the directionality between pornography use motivations and sexual wellbeing among women.

AB - Background and aimsDespite a growing body of research on pornography use among women, there is a lack of understanding of the problematic versus non-problematic nature. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between women's motivations for pornography use and sexual wellbeing using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design among participants from 42 countries.MethodsThe total sample included 82,243 participants, of whom 46,874 (57.0%) identified as women and were analyzed. The participants' age averaged at M = 29.67 years, with a standard deviation of SD = 10.11. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their motivations for pornography use, as well as measures of sexual functioning, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction.ResultsStudy results suggest that across cultures, women's motivations for pornography use are associated with their sexual wellbeing. Specifically, when women reported using pornography for their own pleasure or sexual curiosity, it was associated with fewer sexual functioning problems and higher sexual desire. Conversely, when women reported using pornography due to a lack of sexual satisfaction in their relationships, it was associated with more sexual functioning problems.Discussion and conclusionsThese findings highlight the need to consider the multifaceted nature of pornography use among women, including the usage motives, to fully understand associations with sexual wellbeing. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of conducting further research utilizing longitudinal designs, to establish the directionality between pornography use motivations and sexual wellbeing among women.

U2 - 10.1556/2006.2024.00040

DO - 10.1556/2006.2024.00040

M3 - Article

SN - 2062-5871

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Journal of Behavioral Addictions

JF - Journal of Behavioral Addictions

M1 - 40

ER -

Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing: Insights from a 42-country study

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