Are pornography use motivations related to behaviors toward the romantic partner? A dyadic daily diary study.

Individuals in couple relationships often use pornography. Previous findings are inconsistent regarding how pornography use may affect couples and tend to focus on overall use and broad retrospective indicators of relationship functioning (e.g., relationship satisfaction). No research has considered the motivations behind pornography use and how they relate to daily dynamics between partners. Yet, the approach-avoidance sexual motivation theory suggests that approach motivations to engage in a sexual activity (e.g., for sexual pleasure) are associated with positive relational outcomes whereas avoidance motivations (e.g., to avoid a conflict) are related to negative relational outcomes. This study bridges these gaps by examining the associations between pornography use motivations and daily positive (e.g., listening to the partner) and negative (e.g., getting angry at the partner) behaviors among couples using a dyadic daily diary design. A convenience sample of 327 couples (50.6% women; = 31.5) completed daily self-report measures over 35 days. Multilevel actor-partner interdependence models showed that on days when a person used pornography for stress reduction, they reported fewer positive behaviors toward their partner. Similarly, on days when a person used pornography for emotional distraction, they reported fewer positive behaviors and greater negative behaviors toward their partner. On days when a person used pornography for partner-related motivation, they reported greater positive behaviors toward their partner, and on days when a person used pornography for sexual pleasure, they reported fewer negative behaviors toward the partner. For most motivations, on days when a person used pornography, their partner reported fewer positive behaviors toward them that day. Our results are in line with the approach-avoidance sexual motivation theory and support the need to consider motivations underlying pornography use for a better understanding of its associations with same-day couple dynamics.