(Disclaimer: I'm not saying this is true or that I personally think it is, I just find it interesting and want to get everyone's opinion.) The New York Post has an article titled, "The More Porn You Watch, the More Likely You Are to Be Bisexual." According to the article, a study done by a porn website surveyed 11,000 users of pornography and found the more porn they watched, the likelier they were to go both ways. 13.09% of the 11,000 people surveyed that watch porn once a week were bisexual, 19.73% that watch porn a few times a week were bisexual, 23.01% that watch porn once a day were bisexual, and a whopping 27.46% of the people surveyed that watch porn multiple times a day were bisexual. What is the reason for the divergence of sexual preferences between those who watch lots of porn and those who watch just a little? The study stated that the survey doesn't prove causation, but it certainly provides correlation. The vice president of the porn website said that, "The more porn you watch, the more you may think, ‘Hey, that’s actually somewhat of a turn-on. Maybe I’m not as totally straight, or gay, as I thought.’” Thoughts?
Note: the study isn't claiming that pornography makes people bisexual. It just claims that the more pornography someone watches, the likelier they are to be bisexual. If that makes sense.
Has anyone seen or read this article by the New York Post? I think there are a few different articles about the study.
I have not read this article, and I am not sure what to say about the data. However I have a few opinions about the concept of the survey: The relationship between porn habits and sexual orientation isn’t necessarily a close one. Sometimes straight people look at bi or gay porn, and sometimes gay or bi people look at straight porn. The deeper question is what they get out of the content and how it matters to them, not necessarily the quantity or type of content. Masturbation or thinking of sex without porn is where the mind goes on its own. Porn, on the other hand, is created to lead someone through a fantasy. So the person’s innate sexuality is probably generated from within, not from without. Porn is detached from reality, and people would probably view or think of things that they would probably not actually do. So then the question becomes: is sexual orientation defined by thoughts, actions, intent, fantasy, or some other combination of these? Adding to my previous point, I think it’s internally generated without external influence. Perhaps the study shows that some people are more comfortable with sex and maybe also more comfortable with using the “bi” label. At a minimum the data would be influenced by self-selection: those who are most comfortable tend to visit the most often, see and take the survey most often, and thus have a very high influence over the data. The survey results are interesting but I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions about what sexual orientation is or how it manifests.
Let me just say that study sounds like bull shit haha. Correlation does not imply causation. From that given data you could also say “x” percent was also gay and therefore we concluded most certainly you’re more likely to go play for the same team. Common sense dictates more straight people watch porn then all LGBT people because there is more of them so idk man it sounds sketchy to me.
Oh my god new york post. I would just say, I feel like there's other things they could have tracked? Why would someone watch porn multiple times a day? The categories here don't seem to be pretty useful. I guess it means straight porn only...
In the original post, I specifically pointed out that, "The study stated that the survey doesn't prove causation, but it certainly provides correlation." I also stated that, "the study isn't claiming that pornography makes people bisexual. It just claims that the more pornography someone watches, the likelier they are to be bisexual. If that makes sense." A different way to look at it is that bisexual individuals are more likely to watch more porn than their counter parts. I'm not sure what you mean. Hmmm. I think I know what you're implying but from my understanding, the survey implies the exact opposite.
Again, I'm not saying I agree with the study. I just found it interesting and rather thought provoking so I wanted to get peoples opinions.
This is very interesting tbh. I cant say for sure if something like this is really accurate, but i can say that i am addicted to porn since a little kid i think, i started with 12 and it just got worse with time. When all this stuff of doubting sexuality and ocd appeared in my life, i started to use more porn. So i can say that i watch a lot of porn, but im dont know if this makes me bi, until today i never had a attraction to a men so i dont know, but i can say that i think about this a lot everyday, mostly because of ocd.
Great input, @Sadness! I also started watching porn at a very young age and have struggled with it ever since. I definitely don't think it has caused my bisexuality in the slightest though. However, I have wondered if there is a correlation between my bisexuality and my problem with pornography. Although, I doubt it. Just a thought... Hope this makes sense! I'm sorry to hear you struggle with OCD!
I haven't read the article (or even heard about it til now) I'd have a hard time believing a blanket "the more porn you watch" ... without some sort of qualifier on the type of porn being watched.
Whenever somebody points out some study talking about correlations, I always pull out my favorite site that discusses such things, and this example from that site. In short, correlations are pretty meaningless in many cases.
I too would disagree with the vice president of the porn website. As @Sadness and @BiBoyToy said above, for me too, watching any type of porn has not resulted in me thinking that I might not be as gay as I thought. Though while denying to be gay I have watched porn as a test in addition to fantasizing and other experiments to note my reaction to such situations in my mind or in real. I should also say that I don't watch much porn (once in a few weeks). I don't know. I think straight people are as likely to watch porn as bisexual people. Yeah... it doesn't give much data on other things.
@Braj, I really appreciate your input. I totally agree with everything you said for the most part. However.... Yes, straight people are just as likely to watch porn as bisexual people. But I think what the specific is, has regards to how often people watch porn.. Not such whether or not they watch porn at all. See what I mean? Sure, straight people watch porn, but is there a chance bisexuals, gays, etc. watch more porn, more frequently as straight people... I have to be honest, as a bisexual male myself, I watch an unhealthy amount of porn and it's one of the struggles I live with..
By the word 'likely' I actually meant 'frequently'. I have straight friends who watch porn very frequently and I being gay don't watch as often.
I'm not sure that watching porn has made me bisexual I was interested in men and women long before I had access to porn. But what might be worth considering - as a bi man married to a woman, I do watch porn to satisfy my fantasies for men. So, because this is something my wife doesn't help with/know about I turn to porn. The alternative is having an affair with a guy, but I'm not a cheater.
A lot of people on this forum including the advisors have voiced their opinion on this subject. Most of them agree that porn is not an indicator of sexual orientation. I think because there is little evidence to support such claim. I think in general one should be careful and wary of the amount of porn he or she consumes on a regular basis. Because it can have a negative impact on his well being and may lead to a decrease in satisfaction and connection if he/she is in a relationship.