# Men’s internet sex addiction predicts sexual objectification of women even after taking pornography consumption frequency into account

## TL;DR

Men with internet sex addiction are more likely to sexually objectify women, even when accounting for how often they consume pornography.

## Contribution

This study identifies internet sex addiction as a unique predictor of sexual objectification beyond pornography consumption frequency.

## Key findings

- Higher internet sex addiction scores correlate with increased sexual objectification of women.
- The link between addiction and objectification remains significant even after controlling for pornography consumption frequency.
- Addiction-related factors may uniquely contribute to sexual objectification beyond just media exposure.

## Abstract

Problematic online video pornography consumption is associated with sexual objectification, particularly in male consumers. However, previous studies have not considered that there is a subgroup of internet users whose consumption may become problematic due to their internet sex addiction. Such users may, in response to internet sex addiction symptoms such as craving, have increased levels of sexual objectification.

In a sample of 1,272 male consumers of online video pornography (Mage = 32.93, SDage = 9.44), we examined whether internet sex addiction is linked to sexual objectification via an online survey.

We fitted a series of structural equation models and found that men who scored higher on internet sex addiction were more likely to objectify women. More importantly, this link did not cease when controlling for the frequency of online video pornography consumption.

Our findings suggest that there are other mechanisms related to addictive symptomatology than just the link through online video pornography consumption that may contribute to sexual objectification. Addiction-related factors may have a unique role in fostering sexual objectification. Isolating internet sex addiction as a potential driver highlights the need to address objectifying behaviours in individuals struggling with this addiction.