Researchers Have a Major Warning About the Impact of Porn on Young Men and Marriage By Billy Hallowell
A new study analyzing porn use among young men has found that those who consume it are potentially less likely to get married.
The study, titled, “Are Pornography and Marriage Substitutes for Young Men?” which was conducted by economics and finance professor Dr. Michael Malcolm of the University of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and George Naufal of Timberlake Consultants, found that smut has become a replacement for marriage for many of the 18 to 35 year old males who use it, the Christian Post reported.
Published by the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, a German economics organization, the research determined that “substitutes for marital sexual gratification may impact the decision to marry,” according to the abstract.
Internet porn has become a cheap alternative to marriage when it comes to sexual gratification, potentially impacting the decision of some men to marry, Malcolm and Naufal concluded.
“We investigate the effect of Internet usage, and of pornography consumption specifically, on the marital status of young men. We show that increased Internet usage is negatively associated with marriage formation,” the abstract reads. “Pornography consumption specifically has an even stronger effect. Instrumental variables and a number of robustness checks suggest that the effect is causal.”
The study highlights some of the shocking variables that cause concern surrounding porn’s potential impact on marriage, including the fact that the proportion of men today between the ages of 25 and 34 who have never walked down the aisle is six times higher than it was in 1970.
“Traditionally, one of the reasons to enter into a marriage was sexual gratification. But as options for sexual gratification outside of marriage have grown, the need for a marriage to serve this function is diminishing,” the study reads. “The NIH reports that the fraction of 20 year-olds who have engaged in premarital sex grew by about 50% between the late 1950s and the late 1990s. Besides premarital sex, another option is consumption of pornography, which has become widely more accessible since the proliferation of the Internet.”
This is an incredible well written and research article. Find the entire article here.