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A woman whose male partner watches pornography regularly is more likely to report symptoms of an eating disorder.

The research from Ohio State University examined how a partner’s porn viewing habits influenced the likelihood of the woman in the relationship experiencing guilt around eating, anxiety surrounding her weight, binging or purging.

“Previous and current partner pornography use was linked to women’s disordered eating behaviors, even after considering women’s age and whether women reported being bothered by this use. Previous partner pornography use was related to women’s higher self-induced vomiting, binge eating, body fat preoccupation, and feeling “extremely guilty” after eating,” Tracy Tylka, author of the study and a professor of psychology at Ohio State's Columbus and Marion campuses told Theravive.

“Current partner pornography use was related to women’s higher self-induced vomiting, body fat preoccupation, and feeling extremely guilty after eating. Interestingly, these relationships were significant even after accounting for women’s personal desire to be thin, suggesting that she may be engaging in disordered eating due to other factors, such as her perceptions of her partners’ desires (to want a thinner woman) or to cope with negative feelings that may arise due to his use,” she said.

In conducting her research, Tylka and her co-author Rachel Calogero of Western University in Canada enlisted 409 American women who were in relationships with men. The women were given a questionnaire aimed at identifying symptoms of disordered eating and also asked questions about their perceived pressure from outside influences like media or people in their lives to lose weight or be thin. The women were also asked to report how much time their partners spent watching pornography every week, and also rated on a scale from never to almost always how often their formers partners viewed pornography.  

The researchers say the findings warrant further study.

“Women’s perceptions of their current and former partners’ pornography use are connected to their disordered eating behaviors. Given that this sample was a sample of community women (average age of 34), and that it is common for adult men in relationships to view pornography, this is an area worth of additional study. Perhaps partners should be integrated into eating disorder prevention and treatment interventions to open communication among couples as to how their behaviors (or their perceptions of their partner’s behaviors) may be driving disordered eating,” Tylka told Theravive.

The pornography viewing habits of partners, and the perceived pressure from partners to be thin was found to contribute to behaviours of disordered eating in the women studied, even if the woman didn’t idealize being thin herself. Tylka says this is important, as it suggests women may be adapting their behaviours in response to what they believe their partner values, even if it is contrary to their own views surrounding body type.

“The more male partners watch porn, the more their female partners may feel sexually neglected within the relationship or that their partner wants different women than them. They may turn this frustration on their bodies, for example ‘my body isn’t good enough as it is, at least in my partner’s eyes’, and engage in disordered eating behaviors or try to deal with their negative emotions that arise,” she said.

“Women often get recognition, attention, and evaluated for what they look like and their sexual desirability. In short, women learn their worth is tied to their appearance, both in society, and this message is often mirrored within their interpersonal relationships. If they feel that they do not have their partner’s sexual attention, they may be very impacted, as it may be a blow to their self-worth as a woman,” she added.

The average age of women in this cohort was 34, and disordered eating was found to be greater in this group than in a group of college women previously studied. It is possible, Tylka says, that this is because these women have had more relationship experience or have been influenced by past relationships.

Tylka is hopeful more research is undertaken into partner influence on eating disorders.

“This study showed that connection between partner variables and women’s disordered eating is an important area of study that may have important implications for the prevention and treatment for women’s disordered eating,” she said.