Pornography May Provide , Existential Escape From Boredom, , Study Suggests.
PsyPost reports that a new study has suggested that
people who perceive their lives as meaningless may be more
likely to turn to pornographic material as a distraction.
Previously, my colleagues and
I found that when people experience
boredom, it poses a threat to their
sense of meaning in life, Andrew B. Moynihan, study author at
the University of Limerick, via PsyPost.
As an escape from this adverse
existential experience, people may
subsequently engage in hedonic behaviors, Andrew B. Moynihan, study author at
the University of Limerick, via PsyPost.
According to the study, people prone to
boredom and emotional avoidance often mediate
feelings of meaninglessness with pornography use.
Specifically, our study suggests that
pornography consumption, at least
in some circumstances, may function
as a means of dealing with perceived
meaninglessness, signaled by boredom. , Andrew B. Moynihan, study author at
the University of Limerick, via PsyPost.
Our study incorporates pornography
consumption as a means of existential
escape from threats to meaning in life.
To our knowledge, this phenomenon
has not been researched previously
in the existential escape literature, Andrew B. Moynihan, study author at
the University of Limerick, via PsyPost.
PsyPost reports that the findings match a previous study
which found that a perceived lack of meaning was associated
with boredom susceptibility and sexual sensation seeking.
Future research should aim
to replicate the findings in our paper
using experience sampling or
experimental methods, longitudinal,
or (latent) cross-lagged designs, Andrew B. Moynihan, study author at
the University of Limerick, via PsyPost.
'Pornography consumption as existential
escape from boredom' was published in
'Personality and Individual Differences.'