Gender differences in problematic pornography use: associations with personality traits and attachment styles

Autor

Słowa kluczowe:

compulsive sexual behavior disorder, gender differences, impulse control disorders, personality, problematic pornography use

Abstrakt

Background:

While pornography use is widespread and typically non-problematic, a subset of individuals report symptoms associated with problematic pornography use (PPU). Previous research suggests that the severity and prevalence of PPU are strongly influenced by gender and are linked to specific personality traits and attachment styles. The primary aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the Big Five personality traits, attachment styles, and PPU, taking gender into account as a moderating factor. Additionally, the study examined the reliability, validity, and measurement invariance of the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS-6) across genders.

Participants and procedure:

The sample comprised 591 Polish young adults: 318 women and 273 men. The data were gathered using both paper-and-pencil and online surveys. The PPCS-6 was used to measure PPU. Relations between the Big Five personality traits, attachment styles, and PPU were analyzed using correlational and hierarchical regression analyses.

Results:

Almost half (46.5%) of women and 16.8% of men had the lowest possible score on this scale, indicating a substantial floor effect. The PPCS-6 showed partial scalar invariance between genders. Negative correlations of PPU with emotional stability, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were significant only among men. In regression analysis, emotional stability was related to PPU only in men. The association between attachment anxiety and PPU was pronounced in both genders, although it was significantly stronger among men.

Conclusions:

The results are congruent with the notion that PPU among men may be associated with unfavorable individual predispositions. Results concerning women leave the open question of why and how women develop PPU. Lastly, the Polish version of the PPCS-6 is a valid and reliable tool for future research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Bibliografia

Akbari, M., Seydavi, M., Spada, M. M., Mohammadkhani, S., Jamshidi, S., Jamaloo, A., & Ayatmehr, F. (2021). The Big Five personality traits and online gaming: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10, 611–625. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00050

Arpaci, I., & Kocadag Unver, T. (2020). Moderating role of gender in the relationship between Big Five personality traits and smartphone addiction. Psychiatric Quarterly, 91, 577–585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09718-5

Atroszko, P. A. (2015). The structure of study addiction: Selected risk factors and the relationship with stress, stress coping and psychosocial functioning (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Gdansk.

Atroszko, P. A., Atroszko, B., & Charzyńska, E. (2021). Subpopulations of addictive behaviors in different sample types and their relationships with gender, personality, and well-being: Latent profile vs. latent class analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 8590. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168590

Beyens, I., & Eggermont, S. (2014). Prevalence and predictors of text-based and visually explicit cybersex among adolescents. Young, 22, 43–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973258613512923

Blais-Lecours, S., Vaillancourt-Morel, M. P., Sabourin, S., & Godbout, N. (2016). Cyberpornography: Time use, perceived addiction, sexual functioning, and sexual satisfaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 19, 649–655. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0364

Borgogna, N. C., & Aita, S. L. (2019). Problematic pornography viewing from a Big-5 personality perspective. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 26, 293–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720162.2019.1670302

Bőthe, B., Tóth-Király, I., Zsila, Á., Griffiths, M. D., Demetrovics, Z., & Orosz, G. (2017). The development of the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS). The Journal of Sex Research, 55, 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1291798

Bőthe, B., Tóth-Király, I., Demetrovics, Z., & Orosz, G. (2020). The short version of the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS-6): a reliable and valid measure in general and treatment-seeking populations. The Journal of Sex Research, 58, 342–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2020.1716205

Bőthe, B., Nagy, L., Koós, M., Demetrovics, Z., Potenza, M. N., International Sex Survey Consortium, & Kraus, S. W. (2024). Problematic pornography use across countries, genders, and sexual orientations: Insights from the International Sex Survey and comparison of different assessment tools. Addiction, 119, 928–950. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16431

Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46–76). The Guilford Press.

Charzyńska, E., Sussman, S., & Atroszko, P. A. (2021). Profiles of potential behavioral addictions’ severity and their associations with gender, personality, and well-being: a person-centered approach. Addictive Behaviors, 119, 106941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106941

Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834

Efrati, Y., Kraus, S. W., & Kaplan, G. (2021). Common features in compulsive sexual behavior, substance use disorders, personality, temperament, and attachment – a narrative review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 296. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010296

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149

Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 350–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.350

Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1

Griffiths, M. (2005). A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance Use, 10, 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890500114359

Grubbs, J. B., Wilt, J. A., Exline, J. J., & Pargament, K. I. (2018). Predicting pornography use over time: Does self-reported “addiction” matter? Addictive Behaviors, 82, 57–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.02.028

Grubbs, J. B., Hoagland, K. C., Lee, B. N., Grant, J. T., Davison, P., Reid, R. C., & Kraus, S. W. (2020). Sexual addiction 25 years on: a systematic and methodological review of empirical literature and an agenda for future research. Clinical Psychology Review, 82, 101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101925

Keilty, P. (2018). Desire by design: Pornography as technology industry. Porn Studies, 5, 338–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2018.1483208

Kowalewska, E., Gola, M., Kraus, S. W., & Lew-Starowicz, M. (2020). Spotlight on compulsive sexual behavior disorder: a systematic review of research on women. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 16, 2025–2043. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S221540

Lewczuk, K., Szmyd, J., Skorko, M., & Gola, M. (2017). Treatment seeking for problematic pornography use among women. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6, 445–456. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.063

Ley, D., Prause, N., & Finn, P. (2014). The emperor has no clothes: a review of the ‘pornography addiction’ model. Current Sexual Health Reports, 6, 94–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-014-0016-8

Li, Y., Lan, J., & Ju, C. (2015). Self-esteem, gender, and the relationship between extraversion and subjective well-being. Social Behavior and Personality, 43, 1243–1254. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2015.43.8.1243

Lubiewska, K., Głogowska, K., Mickiewicz, K., Wojtynkiewicz, E., Izdebski, P., & Wiśniewski, C. (2016). Skala Experience in Close Relationships-Revised: Struktura, rzetelność oraz skrócona wersja skali w polskiej próbie [The Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire: Factorial structure, reliability and a short version of the scale in a Polish sample]. Psychologia Rozwojowa, 21, 49–63. https://doi.org/10.4467/20843879PR.16.004.4793

Mandal, E. (2023). Shyness and self-esteem in women. The role of likeability, personal power, lovability, and self-worth conditioned by others’ approval. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 11, 310–318. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp/171607

Montgomery-Graham, S., Kohut, T., Fisher, W., & Campbell, L. (2015). How the popular media rushes to judgment about pornography and relationships while research lags behind. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 24, 243–256. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.243-a4

Noftle, E. E., & Shaver, P. R. (2006). Attachment dimensions and the big five personality traits: Associations and comparative ability to predict relationship quality. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 179–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2004.11.003

Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004

Rosenberg, H., & Kraus, S. (2014). The relationship of “passionate attachment” for pornography with sexual compulsivity, frequency of use, and craving for pornography. Addictive Behaviors, 39, 1012–1017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.02.010

Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: an R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02

R Core Team (2024). R: a language and environment for statistical computing (Version 4.3.0) [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Weinstein, A., Katz, L., Eberhardt, H., Cohen, K., & Lejoyeux, M. (2015). Sexual compulsion – relationship with sex, attachment and sexual orientation. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 4, 22–26. https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.4.2015.1.6

World Health Organization (2022). ICD-11: International Classification of Diseases (11th revision). Retrieved from https://icd.who.int/

Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Exposure to internet pornography among children and adolescents: a national survey. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8, 473–486. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2005.8.473

Young, K. S. (2008). Internet sex addiction. American Behavioral Scientist, 52, 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764208321339

Zapf, J. L., Greiner, J., & Carroll, J. (2008). Attachment styles and male sex addiction. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 15, 158–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720160802035832

Zilberman, N., Yadid, G., Efrati, Y., Neumark, Y., & Rassovsky, Y. (2018). Personality profiles of substance and behavioral addictions. Addictive Behaviors, 82, 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.03.007

Opublikowane

2026-10-05

Jak cytować

Cupta, A., Luszuk, P., Czerwiński, S. K., Balcerowska-Detmer, J. M., Biernatowska, A., & Atroszko, P. A. (2026). Gender differences in problematic pornography use: associations with personality traits and attachment styles. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 14(3), 201–209. Pobrano z https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/CIiPP/article/view/14284

Numer

Dział

Artykuły