Psychologist Says Porn is Producing a Nation of Male Misfits

A psychologist at Stanford University believes that the over-use of pornography in today’s culture is creating a “generation of male misfits” who are unable to function normally in the real world or develop healthy relationships.

The Daily Mail is reporting that in his new book, The Demise of Guys: Why Guys are Struggling and What We Can Do About It, Professor Philip Zimbardo says men are becoming increasingly isolated by technology and are losing the need to become “social animals.”

Philip Zimbardo

“Guys are now spending a huge percentage of every day in a digital world; playing video games, watching porn, on YouTube, texting, watching sports – most of it alone,” he told Mercury News.

Zimbardo, who co-wrote the book with fellow psychologist Nikita Duncan, said that young men, who used video games and online pornography were being “digitally rewired” in a way that makes them require constant stimulation. Consequently, these men are “out of sync” in school, work, and romantic relationships.

“The excessive use of video games and online porn in pursuit of the next thing is creating a generation of risk-averse guys who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school and employment,” he told CNN.

Zimbardo refers to a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which found that regular porn users were more likely to report depression and poor physical health than non-users, and that porn had become a “substitute for healthy face-to-face interactions, social or sexual.”

Professor Zimbardo recorded a talk on this subject, which can be accessed here. It has been viewed more than a million times.

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3 Response to “Psychologist Says Porn is Producing a Nation of Male Misfits

  1. Hi Johnette! I’m age 61, Asperger Syndrome,Living alone in Worcester,Mass. have Youtube Site,want to avoid online Pornorgraphy! Encountered on Youtube when i searched for, late,General George S. Patton! Watch daily Mass on EWTN. Thank you! God Bless!

  2. So true! And here’s a link to the talk he gave at TED. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/zimchallenge.html

    I was a bit disturbed to read some of the defensive comments left on the TED site by guys who thought he was totally off base, or worse yet, tried to turn his talk into a gender war. In the end, what he’s talking about affects both genders, we’re just seeing it more often in boys right now. But, I think if things continue to go the way they are, women are headed down the same track. Might be a slightly different path (shades of gray?), but the end is the same.

  3. i chalk up my inability to function normally and develop healthy relationships to the fact that i never got the chance to learn how to do either of those things as a child.