Watching pornography more than once a week can cause people to develop stronger religious beliefs, according to new research that explores the correlation between porn-viewing habits and faith.
Over a six-year period, Dr Samuel Perry analysed data from more than 1,300 Americans and found that those who viewed pornography at least once a week in 2006 reported praying more often and attending worship services more often by 2012 compared to those who had viewed pornography once a month or less.
"For religious Americans, pornography use is at odds with their view of sexual morality. This is a huge moral problem for these folks, especially when they're using it rather consistently," said Perry.
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Published in the Journal of Sex Research, the surprising results come amid other findings that "fit more readily with traditional ideas of religious aversion to pornography", says The Independent. For example, those who never watched porn were the most pious and had the fewest doubts about their faith.
Perry suggested that the link between porn and faith was most likely related to guilt in some way.
He said that some people who watched pornography might have turned to religion for repentance, while in other cases compulsive behaviour towards both religious participation and pornography use might be the cause.
"Basically, it could be that pornography use has become something they're so wedded to that it no longer makes them feel guilty and they just do it daily, like brushing their teeth or exercising. This allows them to be very religious while using pornography at the highest frequencies," said Perry.
He suggested they "may be saying something like, 'Ok God, I may be disobeying you in this area of my life, but look at all the religious stuff I'm doing over here!'"
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