Profiles of problematic pornography use and religiosity-based moral incongruence using latent profile analysis: A two-sample study.

Abstract

Background and aims: Recent taxonomies propose that pornography-related problems may arise from problematic pornography use (PPU) and/or moral incongruence (MI). Although religiosity is often viewed as a key factor in MI, religious-based MI has not yet been explicitly examined within these taxonomies, which we address herein.

Methods: Using latent profile analysis of self-report data obtained, we examined distinct and overlapping profiles of PPU and religiosity-based MI in two online samples of male pornography users from the United States (N = 1,356, Mage = 36.86, SD = 11.26) and United Kingdom (N = 944, Mage = 38.69, SD = 12.26).

Results: Three classes (15-25% of each sample) showed elevated PPU and/or religiosity-based MI: 'At risk for religiosity-based MI' (4-8%), 'At risk for PPU' (6-10%), and 'At risk for co-occurring PPU and religiosity-based MI' (6-8%). Unlike the two groups with elevated PPU, the group with religious-based MI group did not report heightened psychological distress or treatment-seeking tendencies. Respondents were otherwise classified as "not at risk" (40-47%) "low risk" (27-28%), or moderate-severity PPU (14%, Sample 2 only).

Discussion and conclusions: Although the observed heterogeneity validates a taxonomy of PPU and religiosity-based MI, our findings challenge the assumption of elevated psychological distress and treatment-seeking tendencies among individuals with religiosity-based MI. Future research should further examine the clinical relevance of religiosity-based MI and extend these findings to broader (e.g., clinical, culturally diverse) samples.