Famed research psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo warned in a recent interview about the dangers of consuming large amounts of pornography.
Zimbardo, a professor emeritus at Stanford University in California, where he conducted the infamous Stanford prison experiment in August 1971, claimed watching pornography can carry with it negative physical consequences.
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After watching hours and hours of smut, the psychologist explained, real sex “will definitely be a let down.”
“You’re not gonna do any of the things that the woman expects you to do: to kiss, to say ‘I love you,’ to be romantic, to touch,” Zimbardo said during an interview with Truth About Porn. “Because none of that is part of any pornography you’ve watched.”
Dr. Philip Zimbardo on the effects of pornography.@PhilZimbardo #ConsiderBeforeConsuming pic.twitter.com/mfb0amb1Xb
— FTND (@FightTheNewDrug) March 29, 2019
Perhaps most alarming, though, was what he said next.
Zimbardo claimed a person who consumes a lot of pornography “will be a failure in a real sexual encounter.”
“Therefore, you’re gonna do that less and less and retreat more and more into the world that you control my pressing a button,” he said, warning men are also susceptible to “porn-induced erectile dysfunction” because the “more porn you watch, the less likely you are to get aroused.”
And those are just some of the negative impacts of pornography consumption.
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Pornography use is also linked to sexual aggression and violence. Data from 2010 showed some 90 percent of internet pornography “contained physical aggression” and nearly 50 percent of it “contained verbal aggression.” Those numbers are likely even higher today.
During an interview with Faithwire, Donna Rice Hughes, founder of Enough Is Enough, an advocacy organization working to curb pornography consumption, described the epidemic levels of pornography use in the U.S. as a “public health issue.”
Roughly 40 million Americans visit pornographic websites on a daily basis and nearly 30,000 internet users are watching porn every single second. More than half of ministry leaders — 57 percent — has said they struggle currently or have in the past with pornography use.
Faithwire recently launched Set Free, a seven-week video series to help those fighting sexual sin. The e-course will equip participants with the spiritual and practical tools they need to get pornography out of their lives. For more information about the study or to enroll, click here.