Investigating the prevalence of involuntary sexually oriented thoughts and their relation to pornography use

The research investigates the relationship between the frequency of usage of pornographic materials and the frequency of involuntary sexually oriented thoughts. To this end, 428 adults completed an online procedure consisting of several questionnaires: Porn Usage Questionnaire, Mind-Wandering Questionnaire, Mind-Wandering Deliberate and Mind-Wandering Spontaneous Scales, Questions about Sex Drive and Sociosexuality, and The Social Desirability Scale. In addition, we analysed gender differences in sex drive, sociosexuality, the frequency of usage of pornographic materials and the frequency of the occurrence of sexually oriented thoughts. The study found that men have a higher sex drive than women, which influences their greater tendency towards sociosexuality, pornography use, and involuntary sexual thoughts. Additionally, spontaneous mind wandering was positively associated with involuntary sex thoughts, while deliberate mind wandering showed a negative relationship. These findings suggest that gender differences in sex drive may initiate a chain of effects leading to involuntary sex thoughts, highlighting the complexity of these cognitive processes.