porn use higher among conservatives

From New Scientist

A recent article published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives takes a look at patterns in online porn and found some fascinating information. First off (but not too surprising), online porn use is higher among younger people and those who live in urban settings. On the other hand, a higher marriage rate correlates with fewer porn subscriptions, but so does a higher divorce rate.

What I find more interesting is that in areas where people report more regular religious attendance, the overall subscription rates are pretty much the same as elsewhere, but people in those areas shift their porn use to days other than Sundays

It turns out that there’s more porn use in the 27 states where “defense of marriage” amendments have been adopted (making same-sex marriage, and/or civil unions unconstitutional). There’s also more porn use in states where survey participants express conservative positions on religion, gender roles and sexuality. It turns out that Utah has the most online porn subscriptions per broadband internet users. I wonder how much porn the guy in this photo watches.

The article doesn’t explore the possible reasons for this pattern, but now that we know about it, maybe someone else can look into that. I have my guesses, but I’d much rather find a grad student who’s looking for a dissertation topic.