The Association Between Pornography Use and Interpersonal Online Sexual Activity: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Many studies have explored the link between pornography use and interpersonal online sexual activity (IOSA), but the results have been inconsistent. To explore the relationship between the two variables and explore potential factors contributing to the inconsistent results, a random-effects model was used to evaluate 40 included studies (144 effect sizes; 103,452 participants). The results showed that there was a moderate correlation between pornography use and interpersonal online sexual activity (r = .37, 95% CI = [.30, .44]). The strength of this relationship varied by activity type and measurement method. Among IOSA types, sexual content-related behaviors showed the strongest link to pornography (r = .37), followed by partner-seeking (r = .32) and relationship-oriented activities (r = .29). Nonviolent IOSA showed a stronger correlation (r = .41) than violent IOSA (r = .18). Stronger associations were also found when pornography was measured via multi-item scales (r = .49) and multiple content modes (r = .45), compared to single-item (r = .23) and single-mode measures (r = .25). Non-problematic pornography use (r = .38) was more strongly associated with IOSA than problematic use (r = .24). These findings support an integrated framework combining media effects with trait-based perspectives.