The Mediating Role of Impulsivity and Experiential Avoidance in the Relationship between Emotion Regulation and Pornography Viewing in Married Men

The present study aimed to predict the tendency to Internet Pornography Viewing (IPV) in married men based on difficulty in Emotion Regulation (ER) with the mediating role of impulsivity and experiential avoidance.

The study participants were recruited via advertising banners posted on some of the most popular social networking applications in Iran. A total sample of 123 married men in Isfahan City, Iran, participated in the study. The study participants completed the Pornography Craving Questionnaire (PCQ), the Short-form version of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-SF), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-15) through the internet. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics (Mean±SD) and correlation tests. For analyzing the study model, the PLS-SEM technique was performed in WarpPLS.

The current research results indicated that difficulties in ER provided a positive direct effect on the tendency to IPV (β=0.37, P<0.01). The results also revealed that impulsivity (β=0.64, P<0.01) and experiential avoidance (β=0.71, P<0.01) played mediating roles between difficulties in ER and the tendency to IPV. The model presented a good fit with the data (AVIF=2.88, GOF=0.63, SPR=1, RSCR=1, SSR=1, NLBCDR=1). 

Difficulties in ER, impulsivity, and experiential avoidance play important roles in the tendency to IPV. Impulsivity and experiential avoidance, as two modes of ER, can mediate the relationship between difficulties in ER and the tendency to IPV; therefore, they should be taken into consideration in this regard.