Pornographic turning points in the life course: uses of pornography in sexual self-development

With the ubiquity of pornography, the connection between the way individuals use pornography and the development of their sexual selfhood merits deeper qualitative analysis and exploration. The current study gathered sexual narratives from 50 participants and examined the way they claimed to use, or disregard, pornography, and the impact on their sexual self-development. Uses for pornography included educational purposes/constructing a sexual knowledge base, arousal, masturbation, learning sexual techniques, sexual exploration, and relationship enhancement. Regardless of the use, utilization of porn, or, in some cases, lack thereof, was determined to often act as a turning point in the trajectory of an individual's sexual self-development over the course of one's life.