Impact of internet pornography use by Jordanian University students on perceiving its effects on self and others

Abstract EN

This survey provides important insight into the usage of the Internet in general, and pornographic sites in particular, by Jordanian college students.

Students were found to use the Internet regularly for many reasons – both instrumental and habitual.

Use of the Internet to view pornography was relatively high – perhaps higher than might be expected in a conservative Muslim society.

As for Predictors of Internet addiction and pornography use, It was found that three Internet habitual use levels, the specific university that one attends, and using pornographic sites were all valid predictors of Internet addiction.

Four predictors were found regarding pornography use on the Internet: whether or not their mother worked, student gender, logging into pornographic sites, and Internet addiction.

It seems clear that several key factors come into play with both Internet addiction and pornography use – and that they may be interrelated.

Regarding uses of and gratifications from the Internet, it seems consistent with prior research that Internet addiction is a challenge for people of all stripes – both genders and people from different backgrounds.

Specifically in relation to pornography addiction, results of Kraus and Rosenberg (2014) seem to be supported in that people seem to become addicted to pornography, especially men (as noted by Tsitsika et al.

, 2009).

Of course, as Tsitsika et al.

state, it cannot be determined if lesser use of pornographic sites by women is a real effect or the result of reporting bias. Although the current study does not address pornography in the West, it certainly bears some witness to pornography use in the more conservative Middle East.

As in the West, and also in previous studies of the Middle East, despite cultural expectations, use of pornography seems to be quite prevalent.

Again, as noted by Hald and Mulya (2013), men tend to consume significantly more pornography then women