Date

9-9-2022

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

David Brown

Keywords

pornography, marital quality, sexual quality, gender, marriage, divorce

Disciplines

Counseling | Psychology

Abstract

Statistics have shown that married couples who start watching pornography double their chances of divorcing within two years following the pornography use. Statistics also report that every year for the past decade there have been roughly one million divorces in the United States, and the current divorce rate is 2.9 per population of 1000, with 45 reporting states, including Washington, DC. However, these statistics do not provide a breakdown of how many of these divorces were due to pornography use. Research suggests that the negative relationship between pornography use and marital well-being has grown stronger over time, during a period in which pornography has become both more explicit and more easily available. The main focus of this study is 1) to determine if there is a negative effect when husbands and wives view pornography together as opposed to if they view it individually; 2) to determine if there is a bi-directional effect between pornography use and marital quality, and 3) to test if the negative effect of pornography use on marital quality affects wives as well as husbands. The research design used in this study will be quantitative and the method used to obtain the findings will be a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire will be designed to assess marital quality, sexual intimacy, pornography use, and pornography’s effect on both marriage and divorce. Respondents will answer each item on a 5-point Likert scale. Respondents will read the questions and respond to them by themselves and without interference.

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