IntroductionProblematic online video pornography consumption is associated with sexual objectification, particularly in male consumers. However, previous studies have not considered that there is a subgroup of internet users whose consumption may become problematic due to their internet sex addiction. Such users may, in response to internet sex addiction symptoms such as craving, have increased levels of sexual objectification.MethodsIn a sample of 1,272 male consumers of online video pornography (Mage = 32.93, SDage = 9.44), we examined whether internet sex addiction is linked to sexual objectification via an online survey.ResultsWe fitted a series of structural equation models and found that men who scored higher on internet sex addiction were more likely to objectify women. More importantly, this link did not cease when controlling for the frequency of online video pornography consumption.DiscussionOur findings suggest that there are other mechanisms related to addictive symptomatology than just the link through online video pornography consumption that may contribute to sexual objectification. Addiction-related factors may have a unique role in fostering sexual objectification. Isolating internet sex addiction as a potential driver highlights the need to address objectifying behaviours in individuals struggling with this addiction.

The dataset consists of texts submitted by people responding to an invitation to participate in a study organised by the Finnish Literature Society. Participants were asked to write about their memories, experiences, feelings and views relating to pornography in Finland. The texts cover, for instance, the use of the term pornography, the role of porn in different life stages, pornography in magazines, television programmes, movies and the Internet, what kind of pornography the writer was interested in, whether the participants themselves had produced pornographic or erotic material, the effect of pornography on their body image, and different and varied forms of sexuality. Background information include the participant's age, gender, region of birth and occupation, if this information had been included in the textual data. The dataset is only available in Finnish.