Teens, adults in America find porn less risky than having sex.
By Sreekanth A Nair
A new study of porn reveals that teens and older adults in America are watching porn because it’s considered less risky than actually having sex.
The study called ‘The Porn Phenomenon’, conducted by Barna Group, sheds light on the changing attitude of people towards porn.
Teens in the age group of 13-17 use porn mainly because of this reason and for people in the age group of 51-69, this is the fourth highest reason.
“‘Being less risky than actual sex’ is higher motivation among both teens and older adults — for different reasons, presumably,” said the study.
The 25-to-50-year-olds tend to use porn for getting sex tips or to set a mood with a partner, the study revealed.
On the morality side, most Americans think porn is bad for society. But the attitude of teenagers is trending towards neutrality or “good for society”.
“When they talk about porn with friends, 89% of teens and 95% of young adults say they do so in a neutral, accepting, or encouraging way. That is, only one in 20 young adults and one in 10 teens say their friends think viewing pornography is a bad thing,” the study said.
Teens and young adults consider not recycling as more immoral than watching porn.
“32% say viewing porn is “usually or always wrong” compared to 56% who say not recycling is “usually or always wrong.”
In the age of IT revolution porn also has gone digital: 71% of adults, 85% of teens and young adults who have watched porn used online videos. At the same time magazines, graphic novels, on-demand videos and cable or rented/purchased DVDs form a very small part of the market.
“More than half of women 25 and under ever seek out porn (56% versus 27% among women 25-plus) and one-third seek it out, at least, monthly (33% versus just 12% of older men),” the study said.
“In contrast, among teen and young adult men, 81% ever seek it out and 67% at least monthly. Among men ages 25-plus, the comps are 65% and 47,” the study stated.
The study found out that most teens are sexting and are either on the receiving end or on the sending end of sexually explicit image.
“62% of teens and young adults have received a sexually explicit image and 41% have sent one (usually from/to their boy/girlfriend or friend).”
The study was conducted among teenagers, young adults and pastors. Around 3000 interviews were conducted as part of the survey. The full report will be published in April 2016.