Why Narcissists Are More Likely to Identify as Porn Addicts

In 2012, when I first began publishing challenges to the concepts of sex addiction and pornography addiction, one concern I raised was whether these diagnoses enabled persons with personality disorders to externalize responsibility for their often selfish behaviours.

In the intervening years, a great deal of research has been conducted, highlighting the critical role of underlying issues of moral incongruence, difficulties with emotional regulation, and anxiety problems. Now, new research justifies my early concerns, finding that personality features associated with narcissism contribute to viewing oneself as a porn addict.

Narcissism and Pornography

Past research has found that persons high in narcissism report higher levels of pornography use in general and that greater levels of entitlement predict more use of pornography. More recent research has found that persons higher in narcissism and other traits are more likely to identify themselves as victims, signalling their virtuosity and that narcissists are more likely to agree with conspiracy theories.

The idea that pornography is addictive, causing brain changes and alterations to sexual behaviours and attractions, has proliferated in the past 20 years as the internet has eased access to porn. Porn addiction is a concept that is particularly popular and promoted in online discussions and self-help groups. These groups are particularly prone to misogynistic, racist, and homophobic dialogues, and often promote high levels of antagonism toward the pornography industry, which these groups portray as engaged in conspiracies to create addiction in viewers.

In 2021, Robert Aaron Long committed several murders in Atlanta-area massage parlours and was arrested on his way to Tampa, allegedly to engage in more violence toward unidentified entities involved in pornography. In interviews with police, Long claimed that his criminal actions were to remove temptations and to “help others with sex addiction.”

Antagonistic Narcissism and Pornography Addiction

Externalizing responsibility and blaming others are common features of narcissism, as persons high in narcissism rarely see themselves as at fault for problems or misbehaviours. In recently published research, I was honoured to assist several excellent addiction-and-personality researchers in exploring whether certain components of narcissism were related to identifying oneself as addicted to pornography, from the perspective that seeing oneself as addicted to pornography was a form of externalized responsibility: placing blame on pornography for one’s sexual or interpersonal struggles.

This research involved four different studies and samples, three from the United States and one from Malaysia. Across these samples, there were a total of 4,589 participants. One of the U.S. samples was drawn from university undergraduates, a second was recruited online and matched to representative U.S. norms, and the final U.S. sample was a nationally representative sample drawn from YouGov national polling.

Participants in all of these studies completed a battery of measures, including the Five Factor Narcissism Inventory Short Form along with the CyberPornography Use Inventory 4, a measure assessing both pornography use and feelings of compulsive use of pornography.

Across all samples analyzed, there were consistent, robust associations between narcissistic antagonism and participants’ self-perceived addiction to pornography. The strongest associations were found in the samples from the United States. The effect size for the correlation between narcissistic antagonism and pornography addict identity was very strong (r > .40). More than 20% of the variance in identification as addicted to pornography was explained by levels of narcissistic antagonism. Consistent with past research, higher levels of narcissism, and specifically antagonistic forms of narcissism, predicted higher levels of pornography use, though only in the U.S. samples.

In contrast to past research, levels of narcissistic antagonism were statistically more predictive of pornography struggles than were variables of religiosity. Thus, it appears that while moral incongruence is a strong component of self-perceived pornography addiction, narcissistic traits may hold greater influence.

The participant sample from Malaysia did not display the same strength of association between narcissism and pornography use or feelings of addiction as was found in U.S. samples. The researchers suggest that this may relate to cultural differences in personal responsibility, and individualistic vs. communitarian cultures. Future research can hopefully tease out what it is about U.S. culture that encourages antagonistic narcissism and feelings of being addicted.

Recent research by Prause and Binnie also found that levels of narcissism predicted self-identification as addicted to pornography, though this research used a single, unidimensional form of narcissism. The current research replicates this finding, with further understanding that the link is driven by narcissistic antagonism, as opposed to other components of narcissism (such as extraversion or neuroticism).

Narcissistic antagonism describes the components of narcissistic personality which are interpersonally expressed as entitled, exploitive, and aggressive behaviours. By finding that perceived addiction to pornography is most closely predicted by levels of antagonistic narcissism, we can thus link this to desires for instant gratification, low frustration tolerance, and a tendency toward more self-gratifying pleasure-seeking. In short, the desire to shirk responsibility for negative outcomes that is often central to more antagonistic individuals’ approaches to life may lead one to excuse their behaviours as being out of their control.

Persons higher in antagonistic narcissism are more likely to see themselves as suffering unjustly, persecuted by others, and facing unfair levels of opposition, and they are more likely to blame external factors for their struggles, which may reinforce and exacerbate their feelings of antagonism.

Treat the Narcissism or the Porn?

This research has strong clinical implications for the treatment of individuals who identify as struggling with or addicted to pornography. Supporting their focus on pornography as “the problem” through encouraging abstinence is unlikely to address the antagonistic narcissism and entitlement at the root of this dynamic. Indeed, by encouraging a focus on “fighting pornography,” feelings of antagonism and victimhood are likely to be exacerbated and reinforced.

Unfortunately, the modern porn addiction treatment industry, and online discussions of porn addiction, seem to be feeding and enabling narcissism, as opposed to challenging feelings of victimhood and confronting dispositions toward an external locus of control for persons struggling with their use of pornography. Treatment of persons who seek support for their use of pornography should include an enquiry into the possible role of feelings of entitlement, perceived victimhood, and difficulty with personal responsibility.