A new meta-analysis linking personality traits and attachment styles to internet pornography use has found that problematic consumption is more common among individuals with higher impulsivity, sexual compulsivity and neuroticism. The study also suggests that traits such as conscientiousness and self-control are associated with lower levels of pornography use overall.
Led by Mehdi Akbari, a clinical psychologist at Kharazmi University in Iran, the research synthesised data from dozens of past studies to explore what shapes online viewing habits. The team combined results from studies measuring internet pornography use alongside personality traits or relationship attachment styles, including how people emotionally bond with others.
The final analysis included 51 studies published between 2005 and 2024, encompassing 45,808 participants from various countries with an average age of 38. Researchers divided the data into two categories: general internet pornography use and problematic internet pornography use.
The strongest psychological correlate across all the data was sexual compulsivity, defined as an intrusive, repetitive urge to engage in sexual behaviours. Individuals scoring high in sexual compulsivity were heavily represented among those reporting problematic pornography habits, while impulsivity, the tendency to act without thorough consideration of consequences, showed the second strongest positive link to problematic consumption.
The researchers also found positive correlations between overall pornography use and sensation-seeking and narcissism. Sensation-seeking reflects a desire for novel experiences, which online content readily provides, while narcissism involves self-focus and a preference for idealised experiences often depicted in commercial pornography.
Among the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism—marked by a propensity to experience negative emotions like anxiety and sadness—was positively correlated with both general and problematic use. Extraversion and openness were linked to higher general pornography consumption, though these traits did not show a statistically significant relationship with problematic viewing patterns.
Conversely, conscientiousness and self-control were associated with lower levels of both general and problematic use, suggesting that self-discipline may act as a protective factor against behavioural addictions. Agreeableness was also linked to reduced overall consumption, with the researchers proposing that people who are more cooperative and socially integrated offline may rely less on online sexual content to meet psychological needs.
Attachment style analysis revealed a positive link between anxious attachment and problematic pornography use. Individuals with anxious attachment tend to fear rejection or abandonment in relationships, and the researchers suggested that pornography might offer sexual stimulation without the risk of interpersonal rejection.
The team noted that demographic factors such as age and gender did not alter the strength of these correlations. While pornography consumption is typically higher among men, the associations between personality traits and viewing habits remained consistent across genders and across age groups.
Because the analysis relies on observational data, it cannot establish causation. The researchers acknowledge that the direction of the relationship could flow in either direction—problematic viewing might heighten issues with self-control or neuroticism, or a third variable such as an underlying mood disorder could be involved. They also point out that most included studies drew from Western, industrialised nations and that varying definitions of internet pornography across studies complicated uniform measurement. Small sample sizes for some traits, like narcissism, further limited the scope of deeper statistical comparisons.
The authors call for future research targeting clinical populations and examining how different pornography genres interact with individual psychological differences. Longitudinal work tracking viewing habits over time would help clarify how personality traits influence digital media use as people age. In the meantime, clinicians may use these behavioural profiles to better support individuals grappling with unregulated online habits.
The study, “Personality, Attachment, and Pornography: A Meta-Analysis,” was authored by Mehdi Akbari, Shiva Jamshidi, Zahra Sadat Hosseini, Sonay Sheikhi, Rezvaneh Asadi Asadabad, Mahshid Zamani, and Paul J. Wright.
