The Impact of Internet Pornography on Married Women: A Psychodyna ...

Not only can the large entertainment industry take advantage of the Internet, but also any individual who desires to build amateur Web sites can avail himself of this avenue. The word “sex” is the number one searched keyword on Web browsers (Young, 2000). The availability of pornography and the number of users obtaining it has led to new types of problems for individuals in society. According to Schneider (2000), “with the rapidly enlarging role of computers in homes and offices, psychotherapists and addiction counselors are increasingly seeing clients with a new problem: cybersex addiction” (p. 250). Schneider recruited 45 men and 10 women who self-identified as cybersex participants to complete a brief online survey. All participants had experienced adverse consequences from their online sexual activities. Some respondents in Schneider’s study described a swift progression of a previously existing compulsive sexual behavior problem. Others who had no history of sexual addiction found themselves rapidly involved in an escalating pattern of cybersex. The “triple A engine” and risk-free chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease make the Internet an ideal medium for sexual involvement. These characteristics also make the Internet well suited for hiding one’s activities from the spouse because it leaves little evidence of sexual encounters (Schneider, 2000).

Unlike Schneider’s study, this study will concentrate on wives whose significant others are preoccupied with pornography rather than on the pornography users themselves. In order to understand the experience of wives, it is important to understand the dominant frame in which Internet pornography use is discussed among psychologists and researchers. Most experts in the field (Carnes et al., 2001; Young, 2000; Schneider, 2000, 2001) refer to cybersex as an addiction. The general population is familiar with this characterization of cybersex, as it has been presented in the mainstream media. Therefore, an understanding of the subject from the point of view of an addiction model is important for understanding the impact of men’s perceived addictions on the wives.

Various researchers characterize compulsive use of the Internet as an addiction (Carnes et al. 2001; Schneider & Weiss, 2001; Young, 1998, 2000). These authors claim that the Internet has a strong appeal that can become as habit-forming as substances.