Rules (And the Lack of Rules) About Pornography Use Among Heterosexual Couples

Pornography use has become a normative sexual behavior. Despite this, little is known about how romantic couples navigate, discuss, or create boundaries and rules about pornography use in their relationship. Using short-answer qualitative responses from 3385 individuals in heterosexual romantic relationships, this study examined common themes in the rules and boundaries created by couples about pornography use. Results from a content analysis of all responses suggested that most individuals reported no specific rules or a lack of discussion of rules centered on pornography in their relationship. When individuals did report rules, these rules tended to focus on restrictions on pornography use based on the context and content of pornography itself or specific contexts of the relationship that would allow or disallow pornography use to occur. In general, results suggested that many couples lacked frequent communication and discussion about rules and boundaries centered on pornography use in their relationship, despite how common this behavior is. Implications for relationship quality and well-being are discussed.