While it was once seen as the preserve of husbands, it now seems that wives are almost as keen on watching it as men.
But viewing adult films or images comes at a price, with the researchers saying that women who start looking at porn while married are almost three times more likely to want a divorce.
Their report comes after statistics last year showed that as many as one in three women watches adult content at least once a week, with the majority viewing it on their mobile phones.
In the latest research, sociologists from the University of Oklahoma interviewed thousands of married adults regularly over several years.
They found that porn negatively affects those in a happy marriage, the newly married or those from a non-religious home.
But there was no increase in the probability of divorce among weekly church-goers because the social stigma of divorce was greater, showing ‘religion has a protective effect on marriage, even in the face of pornography use’.
But viewing pornography had no effect on unhappier marriages, according to the study.
Men whose wives watch porn may be encouraged by the news that if she stops watching it, the probability of getting divorced dropped to 6 per cent among the couples interviewed. But if she decides to continue, the risk of divorce remains at 18 per cent.
And there was no effect on divorce rates among men who stopped watching porn.
Last week, a psychosexual therapist at Nottingham University Hospital said that online pornography is damaging the sexual health of young men. Angela Gregory said they are increasingly likely to suffer erectile dysfunction because they are unable to be aroused by normal sexual behavior.
– Daily Mail
