The Journal of Sex Research

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Damaged Goods: Perception of Pornography

Addiction as a Mediator Between Religiosity and
Relationship Anxiety Surrounding Pornography
Use

Nathan D. Leonhardt, Brian J. Willoughby & Bonnie Young-Petersen

To cite this article: Nathan D. Leonhardt, Brian J. Willoughby & Bonnie Young-Petersen (2017):
Damaged Goods: Perception of Pornography Addiction as a Mediator Between Religiosity
and Relationship Anxiety Surrounding Pornography Use, The Journal of Sex Research, DOI:
10.1080/00224499.2017.1295013

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Published online: 13 Mar 2017.

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Download by: [University of Tasmania] Date: 14 March 2017, At: 18:30

THE JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH, 00(00), 1–12, 2017
Copyright © The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
ISSN: 0022-4499 print/1559-8519 online
DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2017.1295013

Damaged Goods: Perception of Pornography Addiction as a

Mediator Between Religiosity and Relationship Anxiety
Surrounding Pornography Use
Nathan D. Leonhardt, Brian J. Willoughby, and Bonnie Young-Petersen
School of Family Life, Brigham Young University

Recent research on pornography suggests that perception of addiction predicts negative out-
comes above and beyond pornography use. Research has also suggested that religious indivi-
duals are more likely to perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography, regardless of how
often they are actually using pornography. Using a sample of 686 unmarried adults, this study
reconciles and expands on previous research by testing perceived addiction to pornography as a
mediator between religiosity and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography. Results
revealed that pornography use and religiosity were weakly associated with higher relationship
anxiety surrounding pornography use, whereas perception of pornography addiction was highly
associated with relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. However, when perception of
pornography addiction was inserted as a mediator in a structural equation model, pornography
use had a small indirect effect on relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use, and
perception of pornography addiction partially mediated the association between religiosity
and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. By understanding how pornography
use, religiosity, and perceived pornography addiction connect to relationship anxiety surround-
ing pornography use in the early relationship formation stages, we hope to improve the chances
of couples successfully addressing the subject of pornography and mitigate difficulties in
romantic relationships.

Pornography’s growing prevalence has resulted in an Price, 2012) and perceived addiction to pornography
increased interest surrounding the phenomenon, as manifested (Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015). Some research has shown
in the form of peer-reviewed articles (Griffiths, 2012), popular that those who are highly religious are more likely to
books (e.g., Adelman & Collins, 2011), and even religious experience negative outcomes from their pornography use,
texts (e.g., Driscoll, 2009). Despite the increased research such as increased feelings of depression or shame (Patterson
interest surrounding pornography, the eclectic body of research & Price, 2012; Woo, Morshedian, Brotto, & Gorzalka,
presents mixed results. On the one hand, studies have sug- 2012). Research has also shown that perception of porno-
gested that higher pornography use is associated with lower graphy addiction uniquely predicts mental health outcomes,
levels of self-esteem (Stewart & Szymanski, 2012) and higher such as depression and anxiety, regardless of how often
levels of depression (Willoughby, Carroll, Nelson, & Padilla- pornography is actually being used (Grubbs, Stauner,
Walker, 2014). Alternatively, individuals have reported that et al., 2015). Furthermore, these two contextual factors
their pornography use helps them express their sexuality appear to be uniquely intertwined, as those who are highly
(Warner, 2000) and presents opportunities for erotic experi- religious are more likely to identify as being addicted to
mentation (Daneback, Traeen, & Mansson, 2009). Recently, pornography regardless of their level of use (Grubbs,
researchers have suggested that certain contextual factors may Exline, Pargament, Hook, & Carlisle, 2015).
influence the extent to which pornography use influences Although research has begun to examine how the con-
individual outcomes (Grubbs, Stauner, Exline, & Pargament, textual factors of religiosity and perceived pornography
2015; Patterson & Price, 2012). addiction influence psychological well-being (Grubbs,
Two of these contextual factors include religiosity Exline, et al., 2015; Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015), no
(Nelson, Padilla-Walker, & Carroll, 2010; Patterson & work has yet examined how these factors work together in
a relational context. Relationship anxiety, or the tendency to
experience anxiety and discomfort in a close relationship
Correspondence should be addressed to Nathan Leonhardt, School of (Snell, 1998), might be an important construct to consider
Family Life, Brigham Young University, 2081 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602.
E-mail: nathan_leonhardt@[Link]
for pornography’s influence on a relationship, as the fear
 LEONHARDT, WILLOUGHBY, AND YOUNG-PETERSEN

and stigma surrounding pornography use (Elichmann, 2015) than secular populations (Carroll et al., 2008; Poulsen, Busby,
may result in pornography users fearing how a potential & Galovan, 2013; Wright, 2013). However, other studies
romantic partner may react if the partner discovers the assessing search engines (MacInnis & Hodson, 2015) and
individual’s pornography use. Such users may perceive online subscriptions (Edelman, 2009) suggest that individuals
themselves to be “damaged goods” because they believe from religious, conservative populations may be more likely to
their pornography use makes them unsuitable for a romantic search out pornography than their secular counterparts. This
relationship. This fear of being unsuitable for a romantic discrepancy between self-report data and objective measures
relationship may in turn result in fear or discomfort pursuing hints at the stigma against pornography use in religious cul-
a romantic relationship and fear of disclosing their perceived tures, as religious individuals may be more likely to conceal
undesirable trait. their pornography use due to feelings of shame surrounding
We created a latent construct for relationship anxiety such use (Kwee, Dominguez, & Ferrell, 2007).
surrounding pornography use, which we define as anxiety Not surprisingly, highly religious individuals are more
and discomfort that pornography use brings into a relational likely to experience unhappiness and depressive symptoms
context. We expected this overarching latent construct to be from their pornography use (Nelson et al., 2010; Patterson
manifested in dating discomfort, and communication anxi- & Price, 2012), likely due to participating in an activity that
ety surrounding pornography. We believe these subsidiary goes against their moral approval (Carroll et al., 2008;
constructs accurately reflect relationship anxiety surround- Nelson et al., 2010). These feelings of unhappiness and
ing pornography use, as they are likely manifestations of depressive tendencies may partially explain why religious
someone who feels anxiety and discomfort in a close rela- individuals are more likely to believe themselves to be
tionship (Snell, 1998). Relationship anxiety surrounding addicted to pornography regardless of how often they use
pornography use is important to understand because rela- the material (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015). Specifically, the
tionship anxiety is generally predictive of less satisfactory guilt and shame accompanying sexual expression that goes
close relationships (Riggio, 2004). More specifically, those against moral approval potentially leads religious indivi-
who have anxiety surrounding their pornography use may duals to interpret a nonpathological behavior as pathological
have greater difficulty in forming romantic relationships, or (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015; Kwee et al., 2007).
disclosing pornography use to a romantic partner. A lack of
such sexual communication can be problematic because
dishonesty regarding pornography use may contribute Perceived Addiction
more to relationship dissatisfaction than pornography use
itself (Resch & Alderson, 2014), and sexual communication Sexual addiction theory was originally suggested by
patterns have been shown to play an important role in a Patrick Carnes (1983), who defined sexual addiction as a
satisfactory sexual relationship (Kelly, Strassberg, & Turner, sexual desire that diminishes the capacity to control sexual
2004; Wheeless & Parsons, 1995). behaviors and persists despite harmful consequences. Since
In this study, we attempted to reconcile and expand on that point, debates have ensued about the proper definition
previous findings by hypothesizing that perception of pornogra- of compulsive sexual behavior (Kraus, Voon, & Potenza,
phy addiction would mediate the association between porno- 2016; Schneider, 2004). Some have argued that classifica-
graphy use and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography tion for addiction should be widened to behavioral addic-
use, as well as mediate the association between religiosity and tions, such as excessive sexual activity (including
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. pornography use), because the brain’s reward pathways are
being activated in similar ways to those who suffer from
substance addictions (Hilton & Watts, 2011). Others assert
Religiosity and Pornography that problematic pornography use is a subset of cybersex
addiction, which in turn is a subset of Internet addiction
Those who are religiously conservative generally favor (Young, 2008; Young, Griffin-Shelley, Cooper, O’Mara, &
more traditional sexual values, such as opposition to homo- Buchanan, 2000). For example, Young and colleagues
sexuality (Hunsberger & Jackson, 2005), avoidance of premar- (2000) suggested the ACE model (anonymity, convenience,
ital sex (Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001), and less escape), proposing that negative emotions lead to a feed-
acceptance of pornography use (Carroll et al., 2008; Lambe, back loop for pursuing emotional highs from pornography
2004). These traditional sexual values are apparent in conser- use. Furthermore, Laier and Brand (2014) suggested that
vative and religious media outlets reporting “shocking” porno- cybersex has similarities to substance dependencies, by
graphy statistics (Elichmann, 2015; Fradd, 2015), such as emphasizing the role of positive and negative reinforcement,
“looking at porn is statistically proven to make your marriage as well as specific predispositions toward sex. On the other
worse” and that “most people who look at porn are addicted, hand, researchers have suggested that pornography use is
but only 1 in 200 are willing to admit it” (Elichmann, 2015, best left classified as sexual compulsivity, or hypersexual
para. 40). Likely due to these conservative sexual values, and behavior, rather than addiction, because of inconsistencies
possible anxiety surrounding the use of pornography, religious between how the brain responds to pornography use as
individuals consistently report lower levels of pornography use opposed to substance addictions (Prause & Pfaus, 2015).

2
 DAMAGED GOODS

This debate has made it particularly difficult to operationa- believe they are an undesirable prospective romantic part-
lize a definition surrounding addiction to guide mental ner. General research on addiction, perceived support, and
health professionals and researchers (Grubbs, Volk, Exline, relationship anxiety has hinted that perceived pornography
& Pargament, 2015; Short, Black, Smith, Wetterneck, & addiction could be linked to relationship anxiety surround-
Wells, 2012). ing pornography. For example, previous research has
Considering the ongoing debate on whether pornography revealed that perceived addiction is associated with lower
use is best classified as an addiction or compulsion, some perceived social support (Wang & Zhang, 2015), and that
definitions have focused on more objective behavior, such lower perceived social support is associated with higher
as more than 11 hours of pornography use per week general relationship anxiety (Riggio, 2004). In addition,
(Cooper, Scherer, Boies, & Gordon, 1999). Other definitions research has shown that outcome expectations (e.g., whether
have focused on the subjective experience of the individual, someone expects a confidant to be supportive) mediates the
such as a perceived lack of control, and distress regarding association between shame and the lower likelihood of
pornography use (for a more comprehensive review of disclosing a shameful secret (DeLong & Kahn, 2014).
measurement and conceptualization surrounding sexual Specifically, with pornography, those who believe them-
addiction, see Grubbs, Volk, et al., 2015). Another matter selves to be compulsive pornography users may believe
of debate in the field is whether religious individuals’ por- that they hold an undesirable trait and are less worthy of
nography use is more likely to result in higher likelihood of support (Riggio, 2004; Wang & Zhang, 2015; Zhou, Zhu,
compulsive or addictive use (Levert, 2007) or if their feel- Zhang, & Cai, 2013), especially since those who perceive
ings of depression and shame may result in religious indi- themselves to be addicted may consider themselves power-
viduals misattributing their feelings to be symptoms of less to overcome their addiction (Butler, Meloy, & Call,
addiction (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015). 2015; Philaretou, Mahfouz, & Allen, 2005), making the
However, whether religious individuals are more prone problem perpetual. This fear from lack of support may
to develop a pornography addiction based on more objective then be manifest in higher discomfort in seeking out poten-
criteria such as hours viewing it per week (Cooper et al., tial dating partners and heightened anxiety in disclosing
1999) is likely less important than the subjective perception difficulties surrounding pornography use. Heightened anxi-
of addiction (Carnes, 1983; Grubbs, Volk, et al., 2015). ety in disclosing difficulties surrounding pornography could
Actual discrepencies between meeting objective criteria for then lead to adverse sexual communication patterns that
addiction and the reported subjective experience of addic- limit the likelihood of developing a satisfactory sexual rela-
tion lack reliable empirical testing. However, a team of tionship (Kelly et al., 2004; Wheeless & Parsons, 1995).
clinicians at a Christian university estimated that 60% of
young men at their university who were seeking help for
distressful pornography use believed they had an addiction. Current Study
Yet only 5% of those young men would meet some of the
commonly recognized criteria for addiction (Kwee et al., Although previous scholarship has shown that higher
2007). Although these numbers lack empirical validation, religiosity predicts higher perception of addiction to porno-
such a sizable estimated gap does suggest that even if graphy (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015) and that perception of
religious individuals do not meet commonly evaluated addiction predicts higher levels of psychological distress
objective criteria for addiction (e.g., Cooper et al., 1999), (Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015), no study to our knowledge
they seem more likely to label their pornography use as has tested perception of pornography addiction as a media-
addictive. Kwee and colleagues (2007) suggested two rea- tor between religiosity and resulting outcomes. Specifically,
sons for this increased likelihood: feeling an inability to no study has extended previous findings by assessing how
control unwanted sexual feelings amid a culture that stresses pornography use, religiosity, and perception of pornography
sexual purity; and the emotional distress that comes from addiction are intertwined with anxiety surrounding relation-
partipating in an activity that goes against moral approval. ships. To do this, we focused on perceived compulsion and
Although exact discrepancies between perceived addiction distress surrounding use, both subjective aspects of addic-
and meeting objective criteria for addiction have not been tion that have been validated in measurement (Grubbs, Volk,
tested, Grubbs, Exline, et al. (2015) have found some et al., 2015) and suggested through theory (Carnes, 1983;
empirical support for Kwee and colleagues’ (2007) ideas. Kraus et al., 2016). Throughout this article, we consistently
After controlling for actual pornography use, Grubbs, use the term perception of addiction to ensure consistency
Exline, et al. (2015) showed that moral disapproval of of terminology with previous research surrounding porno-
pornography mediated the relationship between religiosity graphy use and religiosity (Grubbs, Volk, et al., 2015;
and perceived addiction. Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015; Grubbs, Stauner, et al.,
Religious individuals’ increased likelihood of perceived 2015). When we refer to perception of addiction, we are
addiction may then influence the relational domain through referring to compulsivity and distress surrounding use that
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography (i.e., dating are captured in our measure. As a mediator in the study, we
discomfort and communication anxiety), as those who hope that this specific aspect of perceived addiction can
believe themselves to be addicted to pornography may provide potential explanation for why those who are highly

3
 LEONHARDT, WILLOUGHBY, AND YOUNG-PETERSEN

religious may have more adverse outcomes from their por- use. This mediation was hypothesized because pornography
nography use (Nelson et al., 2010; Patterson & Price, 2012). users who do not believe themselves to be addicted should
Whether individuals are religious or not, people can get less likely have feelings of anxiety surrounding their use.
caught in compulsive patterns of pornography use and, by Such users may feel that if their potential romantic partner
extension, feel powerless to overcome their use (Butler desires for them to stop their use, they could do it easily and
et al., 2015; Philaretou et al., 2005). Those that are using progress in the relationship.
pornography habitually or compulsively may still fear that In addition, we hypothesized (hypothesis 4b) that percep-
their pornography use makes them an undesirable relation- tion of pornography addiction would mediate the associa-
ship partner because of the potential for being rejected for tion between religiosity and relationship anxiety
possessing an undesirable trait, even if religious reasons are surrounding pornography use, due to the likelihood that
not involved (Senn, 1993). For that reason, we hypothesized religious individuals who do not believe themselves to be
(hypothesis 1) that individuals who use pornography more addicted to pornography may believe that they have the
frequently would report higher relationship anxiety sur- power to stop using pornography if their dating partner
rounding such use. desires. In other words, we hypothesized that those who
Religiosity was assessed by evaluating whether indivi- use pornography frequently and are highly religious would
duals had a religious affiliation and by the extent to which have heightened relationship anxiety because they were
that religion was important to them. We chose to measure more likely to perceive themselves to be addicted to
religiosity in this manner to assess a combination of extrin- pornography.
sic and intrinsic religiosity, as those who have a combina- In summary, the following hypotheses were tested:
tion of both should be most likely to have anxiety in
relationship formation surrounding pornography use H1: More frequent pornography use will be associated
(Power & McKinney, 2014). For example, if an individual with higher levels of relationship anxiety surrounding
manifests only intrinsic religiosity, the individual may be pornography use.
able to avoid the conservative, cultural stigma surrounding H2: Higher extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity will be asso-
those who are addicted to pornography. On the other hand, ciated with higher levels of relationship anxiety sur-
those who manifest only extrinsic religiosity may be aware rounding pornography use.
of religious cultural stigmas surrounding pornography use H3: Higher perceived pornography addiction will be asso-
and addiction. However, if their religious beliefs are not ciated with higher levels of relationship anxiety sur-
internalized, the cultural stigma surrounding pornography rounding pornography use.
use and addiction may also be less likely to be internalized. H4a: Perception of pornography addiction will mediate the
Because religiosity is often accompanied by a conservative association between pornography use and relationship
culture surrounding both sexuality and pornography anxiety surrounding pornography use.
(Koenig et al., 2001; Lambe, 2004), we hypothesized H4b: Perception of pornography addiction will mediate the
(hypothesis 2) that individuals reporting high extrinsic and association between religiosity and relationship anxi-
intrinsic religiosity would be more likely to have relation- ety surrounding pornography use.
ship anxiety surrounding their pornography use.
For perception of addiction, we focused on the subjective
perception of addiction (i.e., compulsivity and distress sur- Method
rounding use) because subjective perceived addiction has
predicted levels of psychological distress beyond levels of Sample and Procedure
actual pornography use (Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015). This
The sample of the present study consisted of 686 non-
seems appropriate when evaluating religiosity, as religious
married individuals, who had used pornography (350 male,
individuals seem particularly vulnerable to perceived addic-
336 female), sampled from the Amazon Mechanical Turk
tion (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015). Because perception of
(MTurk) Web site ([Link] in 2015. MTurk
addiction mediates the association between pornography use
is a Web site dedicated to online labor and is used to employ
and psychological outcomes such as depression and anxiety
“workers” from around the world to complete specific tasks.
(Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015), and depression and anxiety
In regard to the current project, a job was posted inviting
are associated with heightened difficulty in forming close
participants to complete a short 10- to 15-minute survey on
relationships (Simning, Seplaki, & Conwell, 2016), we first
dating and relationships. Participants were instructed that
hypothesized (hypothesis 3) that perception of pornography
they needed to be English speaking, and those who were
addiction would be associated with higher relationship anxi-
interested were directed to a separate Web site to complete
ety surrounding pornography use. Furthermore, we hypothe-
an online assessment. Before beginning the online survey,
sized (hypothesis 4a) that perception of pornography
participants were asked to indicate informed consent and
addiction would mediate the association between pornogra-
were informed about their rights as a research participant.
phy use and relationship anxiety surrounding an individual’s
Upon completion of the survey, participants were thanked

4
 DAMAGED GOODS

for their time and given compensation of $0.25, a rate Perceived pornography addiction was assessed with an
similar to comparable tasks on the MTurk Web site. adapted scale from the Sexual Compulsivity Scale, created
Scholars have noted that samples from MTurk are very by Kalichman and Rompa (1995). Five items were used to
similar to other diverse behavioral research samples, and form a latent variable for perceived pornography addiction:
several scholars have replicated previous research results on “My thoughts about pornography are causing problems in
MTurk to provide evidence for the validity of the sample my life,” “My desires to view pornography disrupt my daily
(Paolacci, Chandler, & Ipeirotis, 2010; Schleider & Weisz, life,” “I sometimes fail to meet my commitments and
2015). One weakness of MTurk is the potential for low responsibilities because of my pornography use,”
quality due to fast and cheap data (Mason & Suri, 2012; “Sometimes my desire to view pornography is so great I
McCreadie, Macdonald, & Ounis, 2010). We attempted to lose control,” and “I have to struggle to not view pornogra-
counter this limitation by inserting several quality-check phy.” Although these items were originally on a 6-point
questions and by ensuring that participants took the allotted Likert scale, the sample heavily favored the scale point
10 to 15 minutes to complete the survey. Very strongly disagree resulting in a violation of the
The participants ranged in age from 18 to 59 with the assumption for normal distribution. To counter the violation
mean age of the sample being 28.54 years (SD = 7.85). Of of normal distribution, five dichotomous indicators asses-
this sample, 60% were White, 23.8% were Asian, 7.9% sing any agreement with the items were used to form the
were Black, and 6.4% were Latino. Participants reported a latent variable (0 = Disagree; 1 = Agree). Confirmatory
variety of religious affiliations: 16.2% reported Protestant, factor analysis (CFA) indicated these items held together
15.5% reported Catholic, 15.0% reported Hindu, 2.5% in a single factor with the lowest factor loading being .76;
reported Latter-Day Saint, 2.3% reported Muslim, and (Cronbach’s α = .89).
41.4% reported no religious affiliation; an additional 7% Relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use was
reported an “other” religious affiliation. Among our unmar- assessed as a latent variable comprising two separate sub-
ried participants, 40.4% of participants reported being scales that were created for this study. The first subscale
Single, 37.8% reported as Dating, never married, 10.1% focused on general discomfort surrounding dating relation-
reported being Engaged, 6.6% reported being Divorced, ships due to pornography use, while the second subscale
and 3.1% reported something Other. focused on specific communication patterns surrounding por-
nography use disclosure. The items from both subscales were
assessed on a 6-point Likert scale (1 = Very strongly disagree;
Measures
6 = Very strongly agree). The first subscale was for dating
Pornography use was assessed with a one-item measure- discomfort, which was formed from five items: “My porno-
ment. The item asked: “How often do you typically view graphy use affects the way I see my dates,” “I feel uncom-
pornography?” (1 = About once a year or less; 7 = Daily). fortable around the opposite gender after I use pornography,”
Religiosity was assessed as a dichotomous variable based “I feel unworthy to go on dates because of my pornography
on high and low religiosity. The two groups were divided use,” “I have less courage to ask others on dates when I am
based on a combination of reported religious affiliation and using pornography,” and “I stop dating when I am using
by answering the following question: “How important is pornography.” Communication anxiety was the second sub-
your religious faith to you?” (1 = Not important; 4 = Very scale used, which was formed from three items: “My partner
important). The low-religiosity group was composed of would react negatively if I disclosed pornography use to him/
participants who either had no religious affiliation or con- her,” “I have withheld details about my pornography use
sidered their religious faith to be Not important or because I am afraid my partner will react negatively,” and
Somewhat important. The high-religiosity group indicated “I have withheld details about my pornography use because I
religious affiliation and considered their religious faith to be do not know how to communicate about it.” The subscales of
Important or Very important. To explore whether other dating discomfort (α = .93) and communication anxiety
assessments of religiosity would produce varying results, (α = .89) both showed strong reliability.
we also explored religiosity with a one-item continuous CFAs were also run to test how the items loaded onto the
scale and a three-item continuous scale. The one-item con- two subscales of dating discomfort and communication anxi-
tinuous scale included the item, “How important is your ety (χ2 (7) = 15.104, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI] = .996, com-
religious faith to you?” (1 = Not important; 4 = Very impor- parative fit index [CFI] = .999, root mean square error of
tant). The items from the three-item continuous scale were approximation [RMSEA] = .023). For dating discomfort, the
“How important is your religious faith to you?” (1 = Not lowest factor loading from the five items was .87. For com-
important; 4 = Very important); “How often do you pray?” munication anxiety, the lowest factor loading was .89. The
(1 = Yearly; 6 = Multiple times a week); and “How often do factor analyses and model fit suggest that dating discomfort
you attend religious services?” (1 = Yearly; 6 = Multiple and communication anxiety are tapping into an overarching
times a week). None of these variations drastically altered construct of relationship anxiety surrounding pornography
the results. We chose the dichotomous variable because it use and thus were assessed as two scales tapping into the
provided the best fit for the model and included the best latent variable of relationship anxiety surrounding pornogra-
assessment of both extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity. phy use.

5
 LEONHARDT, WILLOUGHBY, AND YOUNG-PETERSEN

Controls After assessing the bivariate correlations, we decided to

control for shared variance among the constructs and to
Age, gender, race, and depression were each inserted as
account for potential control variables with structural equa-
controls. Race was dummy-coded so that all participants were
tion modeling (SEM) to further investigate our research
coded as either White (0) or non-White (1). Depression was
questions. As shown in Figure 1, SEM was used with
assessed with three items from the CES-D scale (Radloff,
AMOS Version 23.0 to assess the extent that pornography
1977), asking participants how often they had felt the follow-
use and religiosity predicted relationship anxiety. Age, gen-
ing emotions during the past week: “I felt that I could not shake
der, race, and depression were originally inserted as control
off the blues even with help from my family or friends,” “I felt
variables, but analyses revealed the best fitting model
depressed,” and “I felt sad.” A 4-point Likert scale measured
included only gender, race, and depression as controls, as
participants’ agreement with the statements (1 = Rarely or
these controls were the only significant covariates in the
none of the time/less than 1 day; 4 = Most or all of the time/
original model (full results available from the first author
5–7 days). A CFA indicated the items for the depression scale
upon request). Although error terms were included for each
held together in a single factor, with the lowest factor loading
of the endogenous variables listed in the figure, to simplify
being .72 (Cronbach’s α = .87). Depression was included with
the figures they were not drawn into the SEM.
the demographic variables because depression is associated
After assessing the extent that pornography use and religios-
with both anxiety and perceived pornography addiction
ity predicted relationship anxiety, we decided to include percep-
(Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015; Philaretou et al., 2005). We
tion of a pornography addiction as a latent variable and assess its
wanted to ensure that the reported relationship anxiety sur-
mediation effect on both pornography use and religiosity (see
rounding pornography use was a result of perceived addiction
Figure 2). Like the first figure, the error terms were not drawn
and pornography use rather than underlying mental health.
into the SEM to increase parsimony. In addition, the control
variables were also excluded from Figure 2. After examining
Data Analysis Plan direct effects with and without a mediator, we then used the
bootstrapping method to assess indirect effects (Preacher &
To assess the bivariate relationships between pornogra-
Hayes, 2004). To test mediation, we employed the bootstrap
phy use, religiosity, perception of pornography addiction,
estimator command in Amos 23 to extract 1,000 bootstrap
and relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use, we
samples. This allowed us to get bias-corrected significance
first created a correlation matrix (see Table 1).
levels for the direct and indirect effects (Arbuckle, 2014).

Table 1. Bivariate Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations for Variables

Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 Age 28.54 7.85 —

2 Female .49 .50 .053 —
3 White .40 .49 −.030 — —
4 Depression 2.04 .86 −.018 .016 .059 —
5 Pornography use 4.40 1.88 −.183* −.485* .028 .023 —
6 Religiosity .37 .48 .050 −.075* .303* .036 −.148* —
7 Perceived addiction .15 .30 −.105* −.338* .270* .238* .177* .297* —
8 Relationship anxiety 2.28 1.11 −.064 −.396* .291* .211* .131* .305* .673* —

*p < .05.

Dating Discomfort

.043 .872
Pornography Use

Relationship
Anxiety

Religiosity .245*
.711

Communication Anxiety

Figure 1. Structural equation model assessing pornography use and religiosity’s association with relationship anxiety (χ2 (16) = 33.033, TLI = .981,
CFI = .991, RMSEA = .039). Analyses controlled for gender, race, and depression.

6
 DAMAGED GOODS

Pornography Use
Dating Discomfort

-.105* .905
.229*

Perception of .660* Relationship

Addiction Anxiety

.346*
.079* .661
Communication Anxiety
Religiosity

Figure 2. Structural equation mediation model, assessing how perception of pornography addiction mediates the association between relationship anxiety and
both pornography use and religiosity (χ2 (55) = 221.106, TLI = .937, CFI = .962, RMSEA = .066). Analyses controlled for gender, race, and depression.

Results test true mediation. However, we kept it in the model to

assess whether it had an indirect association with relation-
Bivariate Correlations ship anxiety surrounding pornography use through percep-
tion of pornography addiction. The mediation model
As hypothesized, we found that pornography use
showed adequate fit (χ2 (55) = 221.106, TLI = .937,
(r = .131, p < .001), religiosity (r = .305, p < .001), and
CFI = .962, RMSEA = .066; Browne & Cudeck, 1993)
perception of pornography addiction (r = .673, p < .001)
and explained a high level of the variance for relationship
were all correlated with higher levels of relationship anxiety
anxiety surrounding pornography use (R2 = .595).
surrounding pornography use (see Table 1).
Figure 2 shows that pornography use (β= .229, p < .001)
and religiosity (β = .346, p < .001) were significantly asso-
SEM Predicting Relationship Anxiety ciated with higher levels of perceived addiction to pornography
and that perceived addiction to pornography robustly predicted
After assessing the bivariate correlations, we used SEM
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use (β = .660,
to simultaneously assess these relationships with the addi-
p < .001). After inserting perceived addiction to pornography
tion of control variables (see Figure 1). SEM showed good
as a mediator, pornography use was associated with lower
fit (χ2 (16) = 33.033, TLI = .981, CFI = .991,
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use (β = .105,
RMSEA = .039; Browne & Cudeck, 1993) and explained
p = .004) and religiosity had a much weaker direct association
a moderate level of the variance for relationship anxiety
with relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use
surrounding pornography use (R2 = .374).
(β = .079, p = .025). Multiple controls also significantly
Figure 1 shows the specific path coefficients of the model
predicted relationship anxiety from pornography use: gender
and reveals that higher religiosity (β = .245, p < .001) was
(β = −.254, p < .001), race (β = .099, p = .002), and depression
associated with higher relationship anxiety surrounding por-
(β = .075, p = .017).
nography use. However, higher pornography use (β = −.043,
After examining direct effects with and without a med-
p = .308) was no longer significantly associated with rela-
iator, we used the bootstrapping method to assess indirect
tionship anxiety surrounding pornography use once all vari-
effects. To test mediation, we employed the bootstrap esti-
ables were considered simultaneously. Several controls also
mator command in Amos 23 to extract 1,000 bootstrap
significantly predicted relationship anxiety surrounding por-
samples. This allowed us to get bias-corrected significance
nography use: gender (β = −.413, p < .001), race (β = .182,
levels for the direct and indirect effects (Arbuckle, 2014).
p < .001), and depression (β = .228, p < .001).
Both pornography use (β = .151, p = .002, 95% CI [3.254,
3.798]) and religiosity (β = .228, p = .002 95% CI [.221,
.240]) had significant indirect effects on relationship anxiety
SEM With Perception of Addiction as a Mediator
surrounding pornography use. The combination of direct
After evaluating the unmediated model, we inserted the and indirect effects showed that pornography use had an
perception of addiction latent variable to test how it indirect effect on relationship anxiety surrounding porno-
mediated the relationship between relationship anxiety sur- graphy use through perception of pornography addiction,
rounding pornography use and religiosity. Because porno- and perception of pornography addiction partially mediated
graphy use failed to predict relationship anxiety surrounding the association between religiosity and relationship anxiety
pornography use in the original SEM, we were unable to surrounding pornography use. This implies that perception

7
 LEONHARDT, WILLOUGHBY, AND YOUNG-PETERSEN

of pornography addiction is an explanatory factor for the Although pornography use had a negative indirect effect
influence that both pornography use and religiosity have on only on relationship anxiety through perception of addic-
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. tion, use is still an important variable to consider in these
associations, as those who use pornography more frequently
have a higher likelihood of perceiving themselves to be
Discussion addicted and therefore are more likely to have relationship
anxiety surrounding their pornography use (see Figure 2).
Our first, second, and third hypotheses were confirmed, This suggests that in some cases frequent pornography use
as bivariate associations showed that higher pornography may lead to compulsive use and a feeling of powerlessness
use, perception of pornography addiction, and religiosity in stopping that compulsion (Butler et al., 2015; Philaretou
were all associated with heightened relationship anxiety et al., 2005). However, it appears that pornography users
surrounding pornography use, with the perception of porno- feel relationship anxiety surrounding their use only insofar
graphy addiction having the strongest bivariate association as they believe themselves to have a compulsive, distressing
with relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use. pattern of use.
This relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use These findings have important implications for relation-
was manifest in greater reluctance seeking out dating part- ship formation patterns. Considering that dating discomfort
ners and greater difficulty disclosing pornography use. was a subsidiary construct to relationship anxiety surround-
These bivariate associations support previous findings sug- ing pornography use, individuals who believe themselves to
gesting that perception of pornography addiction is more have compulsive, distressing pornography use may be par-
important than actual pornography use in predicting certain ticularly reluctant to seek out dating partners. This is likely
outcomes (Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015) and that religiosity due to the feelings of powerlessness (Butler et al., 2015) and
has a particularly salient role in negative outcomes sur- hopelessness (Philaretou et al., 2005) that often accompany
rounding pornography (Nelson et al., 2010). the perception of addiction. Those who believe themselves
However, the results associated with our fourth hypoth- to have a compulsive pattern of pornography use, regardless
esis showed that the simultaneous evaluations of these con- of level of religiosity, seem to believe they hold a perpetual
structs gives further insight into the nuances of these undesirable trait and may consider themselves to be
associations. The first portion of our fourth hypothesis was “damaged goods” in the dating market. This belief of
partially supported, as pornography use was positively asso- being “damaged goods” in the dating market could heighten
ciated with relationship anxiety indirectly, by going through feelings of loneliness (Ernst & Cacioppo, 1999), which
perception of pornography addiction. However, pornogra- could create a cycle that makes it more difficult for those
phy use had a slightly negative direct association with who believe themselves to have a compulsive, distressing
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use when all pattern of pornography use to overcome their perceived
variables were entered into the mediation model. According addiction (Yoder, Virden, & Amin, 2005).
to these results, those who use pornography are unlikely to In addition, those who believe themselves to be addicted
feel anxious in their relationships because of their use, to pornography have higher communication anxiety con-
unless they believe themselves to have a compulsive, dis- cerning the topic, which could have important implications
tressing pattern of use. This adds evidence to the importance for individuals who move forward in their committed rela-
of contextual factors in assessing pornography’s impact on tionships and fail to disclose their pornography use to their
relationships (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015), as assessing significant other. As mentioned, dishonesty regarding por-
pornography use alone neglects several important subtleties nography use may contribute more to relationship dissatis-
in evaluating the impact of pornography on a relationship. faction than pornography use itself (Resch & Alderson,
Pornography use in and of itself being associated with lower 2014). Furthermore, some individuals frame pornography
relationship anxiety surrounding pornography use was use as infidelity and a major violation of relationship bound-
likely a result of taking into account several control vari- aries (Whitty, 2003). Among such individuals, the discovery
ables that altered the relationship between these variables. of secretive pornography use, when labeled as infidelity,
Given that the bivariate relationship between pornography may be grounds for relationship dissolution in the eyes of
use and anxiety surrounding such use was positive and the nonusing partner (Allen & Atkins, 2012). Finally,
significant, and that the association became nonsignificant although we were unable to test overall sexual communica-
in the original, nonmediating model, care should be taken tion as an outcome, those who believe themselves to be
before using this result to suggest that pornography use may addicted to pornography may also have greater difficulty
lower relationship anxiety surrounding pornography. in their general sexual communication patterns, which may
Considering the small association and large sample size, lead to added difficulty in the sexual relationship with their
this direct association may not be practically significant. partner (Kelly et al., 2004; Wheeless & Parsons, 1995).
Though again, it is worth noting that use in and itself does Assessing the link between pornography use, perception of
not result in higher relationship anxiety surrounding porno- pornography addiction, and general sexual communication
graphy use in the full models. could be a profitable area for future research.

8
 DAMAGED GOODS

One possible mechanism that could explain the associa- sexual expression (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015; Kwee
tion between perceived addiction and relationship anxiety et al., 2007).
surrounding pornography is perceived social support, as We lack sufficient data to fully assess whether the parti-
previous research suggests perceived addiction is associated cipants in our sample meet some of the objective criteria for
with lower perceived social support (Wang & Zhang, 2015), addiction, such as hours viewing pornography in a week
and that lower perceived social support is associated with (Cooper et al., 1999). However, showing that religious
higher general relationship anxiety (Riggio, 2004). individuals are more likely to perceive their pornography
Considering the shameful nature of perceived pornography use as compulsive and distressing, regardless of how often
addiction (Gilliland, South, Carpenter, & Hardy, 2011), our they are using pornography, lines up with previous concep-
findings are also congruent with previous research showing tual (Kwee et al., 2007) and empirical work (Grubbs,
that outcome expectations (e.g., whether someone expects a Exline, et al., 2015). More work is needed to better under-
confidant to be supportive) mediates the negative associa- stand the intricacies of religiosity as a contextual factor in
tion between shame and disclosing a shameful secret pornography outcomes. Nevertheless, our data suggest that
(DeLong & Kahn, 2014). Those who believe themselves there may some validity to Kwee and colleagues’ (2007)
to have compulsive, distressing pornography use may fear a work with religiosity and pornography. Religious indivi-
negative response from a prospective romantic partner and duals may be more likely to perceive addiction due to
are thus less likely to pursue the relationship and disclose feeling an inability to control unwanted sexual feelings
their perceived compulsive and distressing use. Perception amidst a culture that stresses sexual purity, and the emo-
of support should be specifically evaluated as a mediator in tional distress that comes from partipating in an activity that
future research to potentially explain our findings. goes against their moral approval (Grubbs, Exline, et al.,
However, although our results show perception of porno- 2015; Kwee et al., 2007).
graphy addiction is strongly associated with these negative Also interesting to note is that even religious individuals
outcomes, it appears that the majority of pornography users who did not believe themselves to be addicted to pornogra-
are unlikely to experience these outcomes. Rarely do indi- phy reported slightly higher relationship anxiety surround-
viduals believe themselves to be addicted to pornography, ing their pornography use, likely due to the cultural belief
especially among those that are nonreligious (Cooper, and fear that pornography use is undesirable (Elichmann,
Delmonico, & Burg, 2000; Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015). 2015; Lambe, 2004). Meaning, regardless of whether a
As mentioned, pornography use was only related to relation- religious individual believes himself or herself to have a
ship anxiety surrounding pornography use insofar as the compulsive, distressing pattern of pornography use, he or
users believed themselves to be addicted; even then, porno- she may still fear rejection in a romantic relationship due to
graphy use had a relatively weak to moderate correlation any pornography use. Nevertheless, we note that the direct
with perceived pornography addiction. Rather, the second association between religiosity and relationship anxiety sur-
part of our fourth hypothesis revealed that evaluating rela- rounding pornography use was small; considering our rela-
tionship anxiety surrounding pornography use seems parti- tively large sample size, this association may not be
cularly salient to those who report high extrinsic and practically significant.
intrinsic religiosity. As mentioned, our study did not fully distinguish
The second part of our fourth hypothesis was partially between whether religious individuals have a higher pro-
supported, as perception of pornography addiction partially pensity for developing an actual pornography compulsion or
mediated the association between religiosity and relation- addiction (Levert, 2007) or simply misattribute their porno-
ship anxiety surrounding pornography use. This suggests graphy use to be an addiction (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015).
that perception of pornography addiction is a major expla- Regardless, as suggested by the sexual addiction model
nation for why religious individuals are more likely to have (Carnes, 1983), therapists should take special note of the
relationship anxiety surrounding their pornography use. importance of subjective perception of addiction in helping
However, the partial mediation suggests that other factors these individuals in their pursuit of meaningful relation-
may be part of the explanation as well. This supports pre- ships. Although the number of people who report a percep-
vious studies showing that those from religious populations tion of compulsion and distress surrounding pornography is
seem to perceive their pornography use differently than small (Cooper et al., 2000), their difficulty in overcoming
nonreligious populations, and thus experience different out- such use is a reported reality (Butler et al., 2015; Gilliland
comes due to this perception (Grubbs, Stauner, et al., 2015; et al., 2011). Research has suggested that those who have
Nelson et al., 2010). We reaffirmed the finding that religious struggled with compulsive pornography use can overcome
individuals are more likely to perceive themselves to be their problem by dismantling the feeling of powerlessness
addicted to pornography regardless of their level of use (Butler et al., 2015) and by utilizing the moral emotion of
(Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015). This adds support to the guilt rather than shame (Gilliland et al., 2011). As such,
idea that religious individuals either have a higher propen- therapists should help those struggling with pornography to
sity for developing a pornography compulsion (Levert, understand their ability to overcome their difficulties, which
2007) or simply misattribute their pornography use to be should give a perceived compulsive pornography user
an addiction, due to the guilt and shame accompanying greater confidence in seeking out potential dating and

9
 LEONHARDT, WILLOUGHBY, AND YOUNG-PETERSEN

marriage partners. This can limit the likelihood of loneliness differences to gain insight into those who may be more vulner-
(Ernst & Cacioppo, 1999) and increase confidence in com- able in developing relationship anxiety surrounding pornogra-
municating struggles with pornography, which together can phy. In particular, much of the cultural stigmas in conservative,
potentially prevent problems with relationship satisfaction religious cultures seem to focus on men and their propensity to
and stability (Allen & Atkins, 2012; Resch & Alderson, develop a pornography addiction (Elichmann, 2015), which
2014) and may help with overall levels of sexual commu- may make men uniquely anxious when addressing the subject
nication (Kelly et al., 2004; Wheeless & Parsons, 1995). of pornography in a relationship.
We also had a number of measurement limitations. Our
measurement lacked multiple subdimensions of perceived
Limitations and Future Directions
addiction and therefore may not have fully captured the
Several limitations should be considered in interpreting phenomenon (Grubbs, Volk, et al., 2015). Although per-
the results of this study. The use of cross-sectional data is ceived compulsivity and distress surrounding pornography
one limitation. Longitudinal research is needed to further use are some of the most important aspects of the sexual
solidify conclusions about the directionality of the associa- addiction model (Carnes, 1983; Grubbs, Volk, et al., 2015,
tions that were found. In particular, this limits the mediation future research would benefit from more consistent opera-
analysis, as cross-sectional results cannot give us confidence tionalization of these constructs and assessing how addi-
in which variables hold a directional influence on other tional aspects of perceived addiction may influence
variables. Also, longitudinal research could assess theoreti- outcomes in different ways. Another limitation of the mea-
cal work (Laier & Brand, 2014; Young, 2008; Young et al., surement was the development of new constructs; additional
2000) suggesting there may be a bidirectional relationship work should assess the validity of the constructs for rela-
between perception of addiction and relationship anxiety tionship anxiety surrounding pornography use. Finally,
surrounding pornography. Because religious individuals future research should use a more comprehensive measure
are more likely to feel frustrated, worried, angry, or anxious of pornography use and religiosity, as we used a limited
because of their pornography use, they may view pornogra- number of items that likely did not comprehensively
phy use as a way to temporarily alleviate those negative account for those constructs.
feelings. This cycle of negative feelings being alleviated Further research is also needed to differentiate the extent to
from pornography use may result in a higher likelihood of which people using pornography are developing an actual com-
feeling an inability to stop use. For example, negative feel- pulsion or simply perceive themselves to be addicted, despite
ings from relationship anxiety may plausibly result in some- relatively infrequent use of pornography. Research should eval-
thing of a feedback loop, where perceived addiction leads to uate these relationships through a variety of both objective and
a higher likelihood of relationship anxiety, and the negative subjective measures to better understand whether religious indi-
feelings from relationship anxiety lead to an increased like- viduals are more likely to develop a compulsion due to the
lihood of feeling powerless to stop pornography use. This higher likelihood of pornography use being tied to emotional
matches up with the ACE model (Young et al., 2000), regulation patterns (Gilliland et al., 2011; Levert, 2007) or if
suggesting that an “emotional high” of sorts may result in they are misdiagnosing themselves as being addicted due to
pornography users continually going back to the behavior cultural pressures (Grubbs, Exline, et al., 2015).
and feeling an inability to stop. This also would be consis- In conclusion, our results have suggested that pornography
tent with Laier and Brand’s theory (2014) suggesting that use, perception of pornography addiction, and religiosity have
this bidirectionality could result from the combination of uniquely intertwined associations with relationship anxiety
positive and negative reinforcement. surrounding pornography use. We assert that this relationship
Another weakness was the lack of dyadic data, as dyadic anxiety surrounding pornography use plays an important role
data could be helpful in providing a clearer picture of the in relationship formation patterns by leading to heightened
context between committed dating partners in the early stages discomfort in pursuing committed romantic relationships and
of relationship formation. Considering that studies have noted greater difficulty communicating struggles with pornography.
the importance of couple discrepancies surrounding pornogra- By better understanding how pornography use, religiosity, and
phy use and acceptance (Brown et al., 2016; Willoughby, perceived pornography addiction connect to relationship anxi-
Carroll, Busby, & Brown, 2016), having both members of ety surrounding pornography use in the early relationship
the dyad would be helpful in evaluating the extent to which formation stages, we hope to improve the chances of couples
pornography use itself is creating problems in the relationship, successfully addressing the subject of pornography and miti-
and the extent to which perceived problems in addressing gate difficulties in romantic relationships.
pornography are creating problems in the relationship.
The significant associations between relationship anxiety
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