2019 xHamster Report on Digital Sexuality, Part 2
2019 xHamster Report on Digital Sexuality, Part 2: Religion
Are very religious people secretly kinkier than the rest of us? A casual look at searches from users in religious areas like Utah and Alabama *might* give us some insight — or then again it could just show the heathens. So, this spring, we set out to explore the question in our second release of data from the 2019 xHamster Report on Digital Sexuality.
Earlier this year, over a three day period, we asked 11,000 visitors to xHamster a series of questions about who they were, what they watched, and how they felt about it. We also asked them how they identified religiously.
The answers were more surprising than we had thought — religious users turn out to be some of the biggest spenders in porn, much of it on cams and VR. And, lucky for the porn industry, nearly 10% of our user base identifies as “very religious,” despite watching some very unholy videos!
Overall, 8.85% of all respondents described themselves as “very religious,” (Women porn viewers were significantly more likely, at 13.1%).
Very religious users were more likely to be married, and more likely to identify as heterosexual. They were more likely to identify as “far right” or “conservative” and to live in the South. They were less likely to be having regular sex of any kind (about 35% said they had sex “rarely or never” and an additional 14.5% said it was only “a few times a year.”)
As expected, right? But that’s when things got weird. Because it turns out that religious people really don’t like gay stuff, but really do like VR and cams — and are spending lots of money on porn.
The very religious were 44% more likely than average to rank “virtual reality” porn among their go-tos, and 40% more likely to watch “live cams.” They’re much bigger fans of softer, studio-produced videos, and much less likely to enjoy sinful content like gangbangs, BDSM and bisexual content.
And despite the fact that they showed a marked distaste for amateur content, they were MUCH more likely to believe that the porn they watch is real.
When presented with the statement “I think porn is an accurate portrayal of real world sex,” very religious viewers were more than twice as likely to say that those horny stepsisters were an accurate portrayal of real life.
The number jumped when we compared them more specifically to non-religious types, like atheists and agnostics — in which case very religious viewers were four times more likely to say porn was real.
Now, maybe we’re jaded because we work in the industry. But we sort of assumed that everyone knew that when you order a pizza with extra sausage, you get … a pizza with extra sausage.
Then again, if you’re not having sex so much, you don’t have much to compare porn to.
Something else we noticed? Our very religious viewers weren’t getting a lot of good sex ed. A majority of the very religious — 64% — said their formal sex education, like parents or schools, was adequate for understanding adult sexuality.
Not surprisingly, the very religious were also twice as likely as the general population to identify parents or family as their main source of sex and sexuality.
Now, it might be too much to ask religious parents to tell their flock that porn is natural, kind and good. But would it be too much to tell them it’s not real?
There are consequences to this lack of sex ed. Without an adequate framing for porn — either through real sex ed, or with an actual partner — the religious feel much more shame about their sexuality.
Nearly half (45%) were conflicted about the porn they watch, and that number jumps when you look more narrowly at specifics like gay or BDSM content.
These numbers have a gender gap as well. Those most likely to feel anxiety about the porn they watch? Very religious, heterosexual women of color, nearly 70% of whom feel anxiety about watching porn. We’ve got to do better at teaching women that porn isn’t shameful!
Perhaps another driver of anxiety is the amount of money that very religious people spend on porn.
The very religious were more than twice as likely to be big spenders — nearly 7% report spending over $1000 on porn in the past year.
Of course, even there they were conflicted. While they tend to spend more than average in large amounts, they were also less likely to spend moderate amounts, and more likely to spend nothing at all. The madonna/whore complex in action?
For more info on this or other survey data, contact:
CONTACT:
Alex Hawkins
Vice President, xHamster
alex.hawkins@xhamster.com
Are very religious people secretly kinkier than the rest of us? A casual look at searches from users in religious areas like Utah and Alabama *might* give us some insight — or then again it could just show the heathens. So, this spring, we set out to explore the question in our second release of data from the 2019 xHamster Report on Digital Sexuality.
Earlier this year, over a three day period, we asked 11,000 visitors to xHamster a series of questions about who they were, what they watched, and how they felt about it. We also asked them how they identified religiously.
The answers were more surprising than we had thought — religious users turn out to be some of the biggest spenders in porn, much of it on cams and VR. And, lucky for the porn industry, nearly 10% of our user base identifies as “very religious,” despite watching some very unholy videos!
Overall, 8.85% of all respondents described themselves as “very religious,” (Women porn viewers were significantly more likely, at 13.1%).
Very religious users were more likely to be married, and more likely to identify as heterosexual. They were more likely to identify as “far right” or “conservative” and to live in the South. They were less likely to be having regular sex of any kind (about 35% said they had sex “rarely or never” and an additional 14.5% said it was only “a few times a year.”)
As expected, right? But that’s when things got weird. Because it turns out that religious people really don’t like gay stuff, but really do like VR and cams — and are spending lots of money on porn.
The very religious were 44% more likely than average to rank “virtual reality” porn among their go-tos, and 40% more likely to watch “live cams.” They’re much bigger fans of softer, studio-produced videos, and much less likely to enjoy sinful content like gangbangs, BDSM and bisexual content.
And despite the fact that they showed a marked distaste for amateur content, they were MUCH more likely to believe that the porn they watch is real.
When presented with the statement “I think porn is an accurate portrayal of real world sex,” very religious viewers were more than twice as likely to say that those horny stepsisters were an accurate portrayal of real life.
The number jumped when we compared them more specifically to non-religious types, like atheists and agnostics — in which case very religious viewers were four times more likely to say porn was real.
Now, maybe we’re jaded because we work in the industry. But we sort of assumed that everyone knew that when you order a pizza with extra sausage, you get … a pizza with extra sausage.
Then again, if you’re not having sex so much, you don’t have much to compare porn to.
Something else we noticed? Our very religious viewers weren’t getting a lot of good sex ed. A majority of the very religious — 64% — said their formal sex education, like parents or schools, was adequate for understanding adult sexuality.
Not surprisingly, the very religious were also twice as likely as the general population to identify parents or family as their main source of sex and sexuality.
Now, it might be too much to ask religious parents to tell their flock that porn is natural, kind and good. But would it be too much to tell them it’s not real?
There are consequences to this lack of sex ed. Without an adequate framing for porn — either through real sex ed, or with an actual partner — the religious feel much more shame about their sexuality.
Nearly half (45%) were conflicted about the porn they watch, and that number jumps when you look more narrowly at specifics like gay or BDSM content.
These numbers have a gender gap as well. Those most likely to feel anxiety about the porn they watch? Very religious, heterosexual women of color, nearly 70% of whom feel anxiety about watching porn. We’ve got to do better at teaching women that porn isn’t shameful!
Perhaps another driver of anxiety is the amount of money that very religious people spend on porn.
The very religious were more than twice as likely to be big spenders — nearly 7% report spending over $1000 on porn in the past year.
Of course, even there they were conflicted. While they tend to spend more than average in large amounts, they were also less likely to spend moderate amounts, and more likely to spend nothing at all. The madonna/whore complex in action?
For more info on this or other survey data, contact:
CONTACT:
Alex Hawkins
Vice President, xHamster
alex.hawkins@xhamster.com
6年前
