Internet Pornography and Its Impact on Human Sexuality

Abstract or Introduction

The use of pornography in the developed world, primarily Europe and America proves to be common and the Internet provides a unique avenue for a vast quantity and extremely wide range of free pornographic material easily accessible anonymously at any time or place. The anonymity and accessibility of Internet pornography may encourage individuals to engage and explore pornography, who may otherwise not have gone to an adult bookstore or rented an adult video in person. The Internet has also provided the opportunity for people with rare sexual interests to find community groups to discuss and inquire more information regarding their atypical sexual desires as reported by Binik. A social psychological view of Internet porn from Fisher and Barack suggests that the behaviors may be enhanced for those already drawn to antisocial sexual behaviors as in paraphilias. It is also suggested that individuals may lose awareness of the reality of enactment of antisocial sexual behavior as they have access to such material on the Internet. Doring discusses a theory attempting to describe the drive for the use of Internet pornography called Triple A Engine. This theory uses three characteristics of online pornography as appealing factors for its use: anonymity, affordability, and accessibility.