Watching Porn ‘Makes You More Religious’, Study Finds

The two might seem unlikely bedfellows - but watching a lot of pornography seems to lead people to become more religious over time.

And we mean a lot - this applies only to people who watch dirty films more than once a week.

Samuel Perry of the University of Oklahoma looked at the attitudes of 1,314 adults over six years (from 2006 to 2012), part of the Portraits of American Life Study.

Out of the interviewees, 39% of people said they used pornograaphy.

Perry found that people who used pornography occasionally tended to become less religious over the course of the study - but those who used heavily tended to become more religious.

The reasons for this are unclear.

Perry suggests several theories saying, ‘Studies of addiction suggest that those who feel helpless in their addiction often elicit supernatural help. Indeed, twelve step programs that seek to help persons struggling with addictions ubiquitously include teachings about surrendering to a higher power.

‘Another possible explanation could be that, while relatively moderate levels of porn use could have a secularizing effect on otherwise average people, more extreme levels of porn use may be reflective of certain personality types who are particularly drawn to religion.’