Hidden Pornography Use Within Romantic Relationships

Details

Supervisors

Kohut, Taylor

Faculty

Faculté de psychologie, logopédie, sexologie et des sciences de la famille

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences psychologiques, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Within romantic relationships, some individuals may openly discuss their pornography use with their partners while others may choose not to. Early research on hidden pornography use mostly focused on women’s reactions to their partners’ secret pornography use (Bergner & Bridges, 2002; Zitzman & Butler, 2009). Recent studies have also highlighted individuals’ secretive behaviors in regard to pornography use (Kohut et al., 2017; Sniewski & Farvid, 2020). The current research is derived from two previous studies containing relevant items regarding hidden pornography use. We investigated this phenomenon via an antecedents-context-effects (ACE) approach (Campbell & Kohut, 2017) and explored potential gender differences. A mixed-method analysis consisting of descriptive statistical analyses and thematic analysis was employed to assess closed-ended and open-ended questions. The results from the current study showed that men were more likely to hide their pornography use than women across both studies. Expectedly, the deductive thematic analysis identified fear of partner’s reactions and/or expectations of partner’s negative attitudes as well as participant’s negative feelings and attitudes as motivations for hidden pornography use. The current study hopefully provides deeper insight into hidden pornography use which is a complex motivated behavior.