Habitualization refers to the process whereby repeated exposure to a stimulus causes a response to become less intense and even unconscious. This phenomenon has been studied extensively in psychology and neuroscience and is known to occur in various domains, including learning, addiction, and emotion regulation.
It also occurs with respect to sexual arousal and intimate behavior, which have long been recognized as fundamental aspects of human existence. In recent years, the advent of online media and technologies such as pornography has brought about changes in how people experience these phenomena. The present study investigated whether habitualized consumption of explicit digital content affects vulnerability, intimacy, and ethical responsibility when engaging in interpersonal encounters, using an experimental design with a sample of 20 individuals who viewed either erotically charged images or neutral ones for three minutes daily during a week. Participants then completed questionnaires measuring their attitudes toward sex and relationship formation at baseline and after each condition, as well as self-reported measures of emotional reactivity and cognitive processing in the context of online sexual experiences. Results revealed that individuals in the erotic group exhibited more frequent use of cognitive defenses such as dissociation and suppression than those in the control group, suggesting a blunted affective state following exposure to such material. Moreover, they reported feeling less vulnerable and responsible upon encountering a romantic partner, despite comparable levels of desire and pleasure. These findings suggest that habitualization may play a role in reshaping our perceptions of intimacy and ethics when interacting with others in real life, potentially leading to negative outcomes such as difficulties forming meaningful relationships or maintaining them over time. Further research is needed to confirm this effect and explore its underlying mechanisms.
To what degree does repeated exposure to online eroticism generate cognitive-emotional habituation, reshaping the experience of vulnerability, intimacy, and ethical responsibility?
The repeated exposure to online erotic content can have significant effects on an individual's behavior, thought processes, and perception of reality. It has been found that this habitual exposure can lead to desensitization or numbing of sexual arousal, which may result in reduced interest in real-life interactions with other people.