The Negative Impact of Pornography on Behavior

Studies have shown that pornography has several significant effects on an individual. A study in 2000 conducted by Oddone-Paolucci, Genuis, and Violato revealed information on the correlation between pornography consumption and behaviour (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). Out of 12,323 people, eighty-five percent of people were sampled from the U.S.A, eleven percent from Canada, and two studies were done in Europe (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). Overall, the analysis of the results showed “a thirty-one percent increase in the risk of sexual deviancy, a twenty-two percent increase in the risk of sexual perpetration, a twenty percent increase in the risk of experiencing negative intimate relationships, and a thirty-one percent increase in the risk of believing rape myths.” (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). The term “rape myth” is defined as ‘beliefs held by a person or persons regarding the act of rape, rapists, and victims of rape’ (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). This also means that men who have rape myths are less understanding of rape victims and less likely to convict a rapist if on a jury (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). Women with rape myth acceptance are less likely to report a rape crime or be supportive of rape victims (Oddone-Paolucci et al., 2000). Pornography is a negative influence in rape myth acceptance.

Furthermore, Allen, D’Alessio, and Emmers-Sommer, to show the link between pornography and sex offenders, conducted thirteen studies (Allen et al., 2000). Factors of the studies included “(a) frequency of pornography use, (b) age of first exposure, (c) the degree to which pornography was a direct prelude to a sexual act, and (d) the degree of sexual arousal evoked by the sexually explicit material.” (Allen et al., 20...

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Sexually explicit material affects everyone. Unfortunately, this is not an easy problem to solve. There are several things that must be done to protect the individual, marriage, and youth from the abuse of pornographic material. Firstly, social norms should be changed so that individuals are not as tolerant of sexually offensive material on the Internet, and the public should be informed about the risks of pornography consumption. Furthermore, the government should enforce laws that already exist on age limits to viewing pornographic material and keep this content restricted. Moreover, parenting methods should change so that parents can talk to their children about the hazards of pornography before they are exposed to it. In conclusion, though pornography may never be eliminated, society should become more aware of the effects and consequences to exposure.