Most women say that they've never watched porn and that they don't want their partners to watch it
Globally the world's pornography industry is worth just under $100 billion, with the United States comprising up to $12 billion of the world market. The world's most popular pornographic website, Pornhub, reports that Americans were their top audience for 2014 with the average American viewing 123 of their webpages in 2014.
YouGov's latest research investigates Americans on their usage of and attitudes towards pornography. 93% of our normal, nationally representative panel of 1,000 adult Americans agreed to answer questions about pornography, with Republicans and people earning over $80,000 a year being the most likely (98%) to be willing to answer questions and Hispanics (85%) being the least likely. Overally, 56% of Americans say that they have watched pornography before, while 34% say that they haven't.
The gender gap
Women and men report a significant difference in how much porn, if any, they watch. Fully one quarter (26%) of men say that they watch porn either at least once a day (9%) or more than once a week (17%). Only 2% of women report watching porn more than once a week, while a statistically insignificant number (rounding off to 0%) report watching it once a day or more. 19% of men report watching porn at least once a month, while 28% say that they have watched it, but less frequently than that. Among women only 7% say that they watch it more than once a month and 30% admit to having watched porn, but less frequently.
The most significant difference is whether or not they have ever watched porn at all. Only 12% of men say that they have never watched porn but 56% of women say that they have never watched porn. A similar survey in the UK showed that 64% of British women have never watched porn.
Another significant cause of disagreement is about whether or not people are OK with their partner watching pornography. Half of men say that they don't mind either way if their partner watches porn while 14% would prefer if their partner did watch porn. 29% of men say that they'd rather if their partner did not watch porn. Among women only 6% would prefer it if their partner did watch porn, while 33% don't mind either way. The largest group of women - 56% - say that they would prefer it if their partner did not watch porn.
Differences persist between men and women even among men and women who have watched porn. 43% of men say that they first watched porn under the age of 18, something only 22% of women say they did. 57% of women who have watched porn say that they first did it in aged 18-29, compared to only 36% of men.
The politics of porn
Though the gender divide is larger, Democrats (and liberals) are more likely to watch porn and think it has minimal negative aspects than Republicans (or conservatives).
33% of Democrats say that they watch porn more than once a month, while 21% of Republicans say the same. The same percentage (30%) of Democrats and Republicans say that they've watched porn but less than once a month, but while only 29% of Democrats say that they have never watched porn, 43% of Republicans say that they've never seen it.
Democrats tend to think that pornography has neither a positive nor a negative impact on someone's sex life, with 50% of them saying that it has little, if any, impact. 25% say that it has a negative impact, while 22% think it has a positive impact. Among Republicans, however, only 14% think it has a positive impact while 36% think it makes no difference either way. Just under half of Republicans (47%) think that watching porn has a negative impact on people's sex life.
Overall, Americans are evenly split on the moral acceptability of pornography. 39% of Americans say that watching porn is morally acceptable, 38% say that it is morally wrong and 23% aren't sure either way. Men (49%) are more likely than women (30%) to think that it's morally acceptable, as are Democrats (47%) compared to Republicans (28%).
Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
