Researchers recently published findings in the Journal of Sexual Medicine that teenagers and young adults in the Netherlands who watch sexually explicit media — be it on television, in films, in print or on the Internet — are slightly more likely to be engaged in more diverse sexual activities or have sex with others for money.
The study, which involved more than 4,000 young people, ages 15- to 25-years old, consisted of an online questionnaire that polled subjects about both their sexual behaviors and media consumption habits. According to the report, about 88 percent of male subjects, and about 45 percent of female subjects, admitted to watching some kind of sexually explicit media over the past year.
While researchers found a statistically significant link between sexually explicit media consumptions and one’s likelihood of engaging in one night stands or threesomes, they noted that viewing pornography only explained .03 to 4 percent of the subjects’ sexually adventurous behaviors.
“Our data suggest that other factors such as personal dispositions, specifically sensation-seeking, rather than consumption of sexually explicit material may play a more important rule in a range of sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults,” stated Gert Martin Hald, study researcher and psychologist at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Public Health .
“Associations between porn and sexual behavior or attitudes really always should be studied in conjunction with other relevant factors, such as personality,” he told NBCNews.Com.
