Update (April, 2019): In an attempt to silence YBOP’s criticism, a handful of authors formed a group to steal YBOP’s trademark (headed by Nicole Prause, and including Justin Lehmiller & David Ley). See this page for details: Aggressive Trademark Infringement Waged by Porn Addiction Deniers (www.realyourbrainonporn.com). Update (Summer, 2019): On May 8, 2019 Donald Hilton, […]
Introduction: His correlations say one thing, but Joshua Grubbs says another The researcher who saddled humankind with “perceived pornography addiction” and claimed it somehow “functions very differently from other addictions,” has now turned his dexterity to porn-induced ED. Joshua Grubbs’s new paper claims there’s no epidemic of youthful ED, boldly concluding its abstract with: In […]
Link to original study – Online Porn Addiction: What We Know and What We Don’t—A Systematic Review (2019) Excerpt critiquing Prause’s 2 EEG studies: Steele et al., 2013 & Prause et al., 2015 (citation 105 is Steele, citation 107 is Prause): Evidence of this neural activity signalizing desire is particularly prominent in the prefrontal cortex […]
Link to original study – Online Porn Addiction: What We Know and What We Don’t—A Systematic Review (2019) Excerpt critiquing Steele et al., 2013 (citation 105 is Steele et al.) Evidence of this neural activity signalizing desire is particularly prominent in the prefrontal cortex [101] and the amygdala [102,103], being evidence of sensitization. Activation in […]
Introduction Study: “Modulation of late positive potentials by sexual images in problem users and controls inconsistent with porn addiction” (Prause et al., 2015) Claim: Former UCLA researcher Nicole Prause boldly claimed that her solitary EEG study “falsified the porn addiction model.” Reality: The results indicate habituation/desensitization. Because this paper reported greater porn use related to […]
In the last year, an audacious red herring has insinuated itself into the tweets and blogs of some AASECT sexologists: the notion that PIED (porn-induced erectile dysfunction) is caused by masturbation. Without offering any scientific support, this band of porn-apologists has determined to persuade us that porn is not behind the recent rise of coital […]
Steele et al., 2013 spokesperson Nicole Prause conducted several interviews about her July, 2013 EEG study on people complaining of having difficulties controlling their porn use. Commenting under the Psychology Today interview of Nicole Prause, senior psychology professor emeritus John A. Johnson said: A gap in logical inference Submitted by John A. Johnson Ph.D. on […]
Introduction Nicole Prause touts yet another of her letters to the editor as “debunking” the existence of sex addiction and porn addiction (“Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder” in the upcoming ICD-11). Yet it does not. This 240-word opinion piece (Prause et al., 2017) cites zero studies to support its claims, providing only a single, easily refuted […]
Background: Steele et al., 2013 and David Ley’s “Your Brain on Porn – It’s NOT Addictive“. On March 6th, 2013 David Ley and study spokesperson Nicole Prause teamed up to write a Psychology Today blog post about Steele et al., 2013 called “Your Brain on Porn – It’s NOT Addictive“. Its oh-so-catchy title is misleading […]
COMMENTS: This study reported the following rates of sexual functioning problems in 16-21 year old males (data from 2010-2012): Lacked interest in having sex: 10.5% Difficulty reaching climax: 8.3% Difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection: 7.8% The above rates are significantly higher than those reported prior to the advent of the internet. For example, erectile […]
The following is YBOP’s response to David Ley’s Psychology Today blog post “We Must Rely on Good Science in Porn Debate (2016).” Ley’s post is his response to Philip Zimbardo’s Psychology Today blog post “Is Porn Good For Us or Bad For Us?” (2016). While Ley’s title says we must rely on “good science,” it […]
Link to PDF of full paper – Neurocognitive mechanisms in compulsive sexual behavior disorder (2018). Excerpt analyzing Prause et al., 2015 (which is citation 87) A study using EEG, conducted by Prause and colleagues, suggested that individuals who feel distressed about their pornography use, as compared to a control group who do not feel distress […]
Link to PDF of full paper – Neurocognitive mechanisms in compulsive sexual behavior disorder (2018). Excerpts analyzing Steele et al., 2013 (which is citation 68): Klucken and colleagues recently observed that participants with CSB as compared to participants without displayed greater activation of the amygdala during presentation of conditioned cues (colored squares) predicting erotic pictures […]
October 2018, Current Sexual Health Reports DOI: 10.1007/s11930-018-0176-z Abstract Purpose of review: The current review summarizes the latest findings concerning neurobiological mechanisms of compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and provides recommendations for future research specific to the diagnostic classification of the condition. Recent findings: To date, most neuroimaging research on compulsive sexual behavior has provided […]
The paper in question: Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports (Park et al., 2016). [As of early 2019, Park et al. has been cited by over 40 other peer-reviewed papers, and is the most viewed paper in the history of the journal Behavioral Sciences] CONTENTS: “Who’s watching Retraction Watch?” – […]
COMMENTS: This new study (abstract below) is being touted as a “failed replication” of a highly cited 1989 experiment, thus proving that porn use has little effect of intimate relationships. First, it’s absurd to claim that experimental studies can demonstrate if porn viewing really causes negative relationship effects.” Experiments where college-aged guys view a few […]
COMMENTS: At first glance this 2018 paper seemed promising as it recommended that pornography use be added as a part of patient evaluation: As part of the sexual history, information on sexual habits can be useful, both in diagnosing ED and in selecting the optimal treatment. Sexual habits include frequency of intercourse, predictability, timing, […]
COMMENTS: The present study is a further analysis of an earlier study that has already been critiqued by YBOP: Cyberpornography: Time Use, Perceived Addiction, Sexual Functioning, and Sexual Satisfaction (2016). Both studies involved the same subjects, with the earlier study reporting that greater porn use was related to both less sexual satisfaction and less sexual […]
COMMENTS: This study reported two seemingly contradictory findings in regard to porn use: More time spent viewing porn correlated with lower sexual satisfaction More time spent viewing porn correlated with less sexual dysfunction Wouldn’t it make sense for poorer sexual satisfaction to always be related to more sexual dysfunction? How could more porn use be […]
Justin Lehmiller, a regular paid contributor to Playboy Magazine, and now partnering with xHamster, unconvincingly attempts to debunk the well documented rise in youthful erectile dysfunction with this April, 2018 blog post. Since it was published David Ley and Nicole Prause frequently tweet Lehmiller’s blog post as “proof” that youthful ED rates haven’t changed in […]
The authors of this so-called review would have readers believe that self-identification as a porn addict is a function of religious shame/moral disapproval about porn. They only reviewed a small number of studies, which rely on the CPUI-9, an instrument developed by co-author Grubbs that produces skewed findings. The co-authors carefully omitted or misrepresented opposing […]
Introduction This critique has two parts: Part 1 exposes how Nicole Prause, Marty Klein and Taylor Kohut completely misrepresent their solitary bit of “evidence” to support the article’s core falsehood – that “compulsive pornography viewing” was excluded from the new ICD-11 “Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder” diagnosis. Part 2 exposes the startling omissions, false claims, research […]
Introduction Unfortunately YBOP must thoroughly debunk yet another Men’s Health propaganda piece denying porn-induced sexual dysfunctions. The current article mirrors another misleading article YBOP debunked just a few months ago: Debunking “Should you be worried about porn-induced erectile dysfunction?” – by The Daily Dot’s Claire Downs. (2018). Before I address specific assertions, here are the […]
See this page for the many studies linking porn use or porn/sex addiction to sexual problems and relationship & sexual dissatisfaction (the first 7 studies demonstrate causation as participants eliminated porn use and healed chronic sexual dysfunctions): Since 2011, when urology professor Carl Foresta first described porn-induced sexual dysfunctions, over 120 sexual experts (urology professors, […]
Introduction Here we have yet another propaganda piece, this one attempting to deny the existence of widespread porn-induced sexual problems. This one is by The Daily Dot’s Claire Downs whose expertise is described as “A third-generation worker in the Chicago futures industry, she specializes in cryptocurrencies and altcoins.” Interestingly, none of the recent hit pieces […]
What you really need to know about Johann Hari’s claims The popular Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell video, based on Johann Hari’s TED talk, makes a couple of very good points. First, the benefits of human connection are indeed a major contributor to wellbeing for all of us. As a species, we would be wise […]
COMMENTS: Many claim this study supports the argument that Internet porn doesn’t really cause serious problems. For example, this pro-porn advocate falsely states that only 2% of participants felt that porn was leading to adverse effects. In reality, 17% of males & females aged 16-30 reported that using pornography had a bad effect on them. […]
The authors of this study framed egalitarianism as: (1) Support for abortion, (2) Feminist identification, (3) Women holding positions of power, (4) Belief that family life suffers when the woman has a full-time job., and oddly enough (5) Holding more negative attitudes toward the traditional family. Secular populations, which tend to be more liberal, have far higher […]
Introduction In early November, 2017 three non-profit kink organizations (Center for Positive Sexuality, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, and The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance) released a group position paper “opposing the addiction model in relation to frequent sexual behavior and pornography viewing.” The groups’ press release, Position statement opposing sex/porn addiction model, explained their […]
I am certainly not alone in my grave concerns about the Nicole Prause & Jim Pfaus ED paper (P&P). Recently, Sexual Medicine Open Access published a Letter to the Editor by Richard A. Isenberg MD, which made many of the same observations as did my critique. As is customary when a letter critical of a […]
Introduction I was surprised and somewhat baffled by grad student Kris Taylor’s recent VICE article on porn use and sexual dysfunctions. In his article Taylor not only misrepresented the content of a 2016 review of literature I co-authored with 7 US navy doctors, he chose to omit over 40 studies linking porn use to sexual […]
UPDATE: The points made below have now been affirmed in peer-reviewed research. In Social Desirability Bias in Pornography-Related Self-Reports: The Role of Religion (2017), Dr. Joshua Grubbs tested his hypothesis that religious individuals are more likely to lie about their porn use (in anonymous surveys studies or to researchers). The “religious people are lying” hypothesis […]
While a handful of studies report little effect of women’s porn use on women’s sexual and relationship satisfaction, the vast maturity do report negative effects. This page contains studies linking female porn use to lower sexual or relationship satisfaction. When evaluating the research, it’s important to know that a relatively small percentage of all coupled […]
Update (August, 2020): Gary Wilson wins lawsuit against serial harasser, defamer, cyberstalker Nicole Prause. Details – Prause’s efforts to silence Wilson foiled; her restraining order denied as frivolous & she owes substantial attorney fees in a SLAPP ruling. Introduction This page was created to counter the ongoing harassment and false claims made by former UCLA […]
Have you heard these claims a lot recently? Or perhaps even believed they are true? Religious populations have higher rates of porn use than their secular brethren, and lie about it. Religious porn users are not really addicted to porn; they only believe they are addicted because they are ashamed. Believing in porn addiction is […]
SECTION 1: Introduction A new study (Fernandez et al., 2017) tested and analyzed the CPUI-9, a purported “perceived pornography addiction” questionnaire developed by Joshua Grubbs, and found that it couldn’t accurately assess “actual porn addiction” or “perceived porn addiction” (Do Cyber Pornography Use Inventory-9 Scores Reflect Actual Compulsivity in Internet Pornography Use? Exploring the Role […]
Introduction This page collects findings that debunk the popular sexology claim that porn use promotes egalitarian attitudes toward women (page also contains a few studies linking porn use to un-egalitarian attitudes towards males). Let’s begin with the 2016 study that inspired the creation of this page -“Is Pornography Really about “Making Hate to Women”? Pornography […]
Many individuals who cease using porn for an extended period of time report mental and cognitive benefits, such as improved concentration and focus, better grades, increased energy and motivation, social anxiety improved or gone, increased confidence, improved mood, depression reduced or gone, greater desire to be social, more intense or vibrant emotions, and increased desire […]
Link to original study – Conscious and Non-Conscious Measures of Emotion: Do They Vary with Frequency of Pornography Use? (2017) Comments: This 2017 EEG study on porn users cited 3 Nicole Prause EEG studies. The authors believe that all 3 Prause EEG studies actually found desensitization or habituation in frequent porn users (which often occurs […]
Link to original study – Conscious and Non-Conscious Measures of Emotion: Do They Vary with Frequency of Pornography Use? (2017) Comments: This EEG study on porn users cited 3 Nicole Prause EEG studies. The authors believe that all 3 Prause EEG studies actually found desensitization or habituation in frequent porn users (which often occurs with […]
Porn addiction naysayers often claim that individuals with either sex addiction or porn addiction do not have addiction, they simply have high sexual desire. David Ley (author of The Myth of Sex Addiction), is one of the most vocal critics of porn addiction, and often claims that “high sexual desire” explains away porn addiction. (Update: […]
The “perceived pornography addiction” meme continues to infect the peer-reviewed literature, this time in a new study: “Damaged Goods: Perception of Pornography Addiction as a Mediator Between Religiosity and Relationship Anxiety Surrounding Pornography Use“, 2017 (Leonhardt, et al.). The phrase “perceived pornography addiction” was promoted by Joshua Grubbs, and first used in his 2013 study. […]
Introduction Compulsive porn users often describe escalation in their porn use that takes the form of greater time viewing or seeking out new genres of porn. New genres that induce shock, surprise, violation of expectations or even anxiety can function to increase sexual arousal, and in porn users whose response to stimuli is growing blunted […]
FIRST, A FEW UPDATES UPDATE 2017: A new study (Fernandez et al., 2017) tested and analyzed the CPUI-9, a purported “perceived pornography addiction” questionnaire developed by Joshua Grubbs, and found that it couldn’t accurately assess “actual porn addiction” or “perceived porn addiction” (Do Cyber Pornography Use Inventory-9 Scores Reflect Actual Compulsivity in Internet Pornography Use? […]
Introduction by Porn Study Critiques We cannot tell you how many times the following “letter to editor” to a Salt Lake newspaper has been cited as “proof” porn use causes no problems and porn addiction doesn’t exist: Op-ed: Anti-porn school program misrepresents science. It’s often posted on social media (Quora, Twitter, Facebook) as evidence that […]
A number of articles and interviews have attempted to pushback at the TIME article (“Porn and the Threat to Virility”) and the Utah resolution declaring internet porn a public health problem. What might be a few “dead giveaways” that such an article is nothing more than a propaganda piece? Psychologists David Ley and/or Nicole Prause […]
Introduction: In various comments, articles and tweets, Nicole Prause has claimed that not only did Prause et al., 2015 falsify “a core tenet of the addiction model, the cue reactivity biomarker,” but that “a series of behavioral studies replicated by independent laboratories [falsify] other predictions of the addiction model.” Prause cites the Letter to the […]
Update: In this 2018 presentation Gary Wilson exposes the truth behind 5 questionable and misleading studies, including this study (Kohut et al., 2017): Porn Research: Fact or Fiction? COMMENTS: Is the intention behind this Taylor Kohut study to (attempt to) counter the nearly 60 studies that show porn use has negative effects on relationships? The […]
Link to full study – Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports (2016) Excerpt analyzing Steele et al., 2013: A 2013 EEG study by Steele et al. reported higher P300 amplitude to sexual images, relative to neutral pictures, in individuals complaining of problems regulating their Internet pornography use [48]. Substance abusers […]
Link to full study – Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports (2016) Excerpt analyzing Prause et al., 2015 A 2015 EEG study by Prause et al. compared frequent viewers of Internet pornography (mean 3.8 h/week) who were distressed about their viewing to controls (mean 0.6 h/week) as they viewed sexual […]