Pornography and men in America: What we know, what we don’t

Exploring pornography use, research gaps, and policy trends

Pornography is one of the most common digital experiences in the lives of boys and men in America — and one of the least studied. The American Institute for Boys and Men commissioned a landscape scan of the existing research to understand what we actually know — and, just as importantly, what we don’t. The full report, authored by Bailey Way, Joshua Grubbs, and Shane Kraus, maps the state of the field across five domains: prevalence and patterns of use, the associations of pornography with individual and relational outcomes, the motivations that drive use, how use changes across the lifespan, and the regulatory approaches currently being attempted. What emerges is a picture of widespread use, a research base that is smaller and less rigorous than the topic deserves, and a policy landscape that is moving faster than the evidence.

On April 2nd, Bailey Way, Shane Kraus, and Josh Grubbs presented these findings in a webinar alongside Marc Potenza and Emily Rothman. The conversation explored not only the report’s key insights but also the contours of a much-needed field-wide research agenda.