How watching porn affects the productivity of work and study

In 2010, Nielsen Company announced the results of a very interesting study . With the help of providers, the company analyzed the requests of more than 21 million American computers.

It turned out that 29% of US residents watch porn at work. A huge number, if you think about it. On average for a month, such a porn lover spends 1 hour 45 minutes watching an adult video.

But then in 2020 quarantine began, most of the employees were transferred to remote work, and PornHub unexpectedly opened free access to the premium package. And away we go. There are no official statistics yet, but we are sure that the consumption of porn content on quarantine has increased many times over. Including during working hours.

We decided to investigate this moment and understand how porn affects the work process and whether it can help, for example, learn English.

Porn at work: the real dimensions of the problem

The topic is very sharp, so everything is extremely ambiguous. But we will not be based solely on theoretical scientific opinion. Because there are studies that show the effects of dopamine and pornography specifically on the workflow.

But now let's focus on understanding the essence of the problem. In fact, the problem is much deeper than it seems. In 2014, the Society of Human Resource Management presented statistics on viewing pornography during working hours.

According to analysts, approximately 70% of porn traffic falls on the hours between 9:00 and 18:00. That is, it is during working hours. But that's not all. Here are more detailed data:

About 52% of men aged 18 to 30 years at least once watched porn in the workplace in the last 3 months. And in the category from 31 to 49 years, as many as 74% of office workers watched porn at work at least once.

At the same time, 14% of men 18-30 years old and 20% of men 31-49 years old admit that they watched adult videos more than 10 times in 3 months.

A small remark. Basically, the studies analyzed men, because three quarters of consumers of porn content are men. It’s regrettable, but there is no research at all about women watching porn in the workplace.

At the same time, statistics on viewing porn at work practically does not depend on the position of employees. For example, back in pre-quarantine times, data from a provider of the British Parliament flowed into the network. It turned out that over 4,000 attempts to view pornographic or erotic content were made in the parliamentary network over 4 months. 200 attempts per day! And when they only manage to work?

For large companies, the question is especially acute. If at least half of the male employees sometimes watch porn at work, then this must be taken into account. After all, a loss of 5% of a team’s productivity can result in big losses and lost profits. So here we need a deep analysis.

A bit of scientific tedium

Our bodies are hormone factories. And sex, masturbation and watching porn stimulate the production of dopamine. Here it is:

This hormone enters the so-called "reward system" of the brain. Dopamine causes a feeling of satisfaction and is produced primarily in the process of those activities and activities that bring you pleasure.

If you look from the position of neuromechanics, the brain does not see the difference between sex, masturbation and watching porn. Therefore, dopamine is produced approximately the same amount.

But dopamine and a number of other neurotransmitter hormones also play a huge role in providing cognitive functions of the body. If in simpler terms, then dopamine favorably affects thinking, spatial orientation, perception of information, as well as logical and computational abilities.

Dopamine really stimulates the nervous system and allows you to more clearly perceive information.

But do not rush to include a porn site during the lunch break. Because dopamine obtained through porn has another side to the coin.

Too frequent stimulation of neurons by the hormone is addictive and addictive. In the same way, adrenaline dependence is formed when a person risks his health and life in order to get a new portion of the hormone.

The dopamine dependence is a little different, but quite similar in mechanics. A person feels the desire to receive new doses of the hormone more often. And the easiest way to achieve this is to watch porn.

But this is not all, because with a long absence of dopamine stimulation, a person begins to feel depressed and is in a depressed state. Until the next "dose."

From this we can conclude.

The employee who watches porn in the workplace is already dopamine addicted. And if he continues to do this, despite the risk of losing his job and destroying his own social system for the sake of dubious pleasure, then such an employee ceases to be a stable employee. Accordingly, his value as a specialist is sharply reduced.

The potential benefits and harms of porn

Let's look at the other side. Indeed, the production of dopamine really stimulates thinking and memory. Which, in fact, is important during the working and educational process.

. , — , .

Scientists from the University of Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel in Montreal conducted an interesting study.

A group of people solved logical and mathematical problems. With the right decision, they were shown pictures. If not, a black screen. The first group was shown pictures of wealth, the second - pornographic.

The study found that the second group performed better. At the same time, the effectiveness of the subjects gradually increased towards the end of the experiment. The subjects of the first group were mistaken more often, and in the end their attention even deteriorated significantly.

The results of the study were interesting. Porn as an encouragement stimulates the brain to work better. Here are some good points:

Increases attention and the level of perception of information
Increases task speed
Improves focus and attention to detail
Reduces stress
Boosts Creativity and Improves Fantasy
Allows you to switch attention and get distracted
Removes concern and anxiety

Yes, this is all the action of dopamine and other neurotransmitters that are produced if you watch porn. In theory, "adult materials" make the brain work more efficiently.

- .

, . , - . , .

— . , .

But there is a nuance. The hormonal buff from watching porn only works if they are used as a reward.

Let’s explain. In the study of porn pictures, they acted precisely as an encouragement for a correctly completed task.

But if the production of dopamine is no longer tied to the successful completion of tasks and to subsequent promotion, then the hormone is idle, which is why later it is needed more for real promotion. Actually, this is how the additive state or dependence develops.

Personnel and porn

It will probably be superfluous to talk in detail about the policies of companies regarding porn in the workplace.

Most owners have a simple policy. The first time I got it, I was left without a prize. The second time - come on, bye.

And it’s difficult to deal with it. You can control outgoing traffic, install programs that will monitor the actions of employees on work computers. But if desired, the employee will find how to get around these restrictions.

Identifying applicants with additivity is also difficult. If alcohol or drug addiction is displayed on the exterior, then dopamine is not. Everything is debited on the character traits of a particular person.

Maybe allow it?

But if porn still improves brain function, can official permission for employees increase their performance?

Unfortunately, this will not work.

Firstly, a ban on viewing such materials in the workplace is a risk, which in turn becomes a catalyst for adrenaline production. And it enhances the effect of dopamine. There will be no risk - there will be no adrenaline. What is important, the effect will be preserved in the remote operation mode, because the person understands that it is now a working day!
-, , . . — - , . .
-, . , . , , .

Let's look at a simple example:

Suppose a company employee is currently in remote mode. He lives alone, so no external factors prevent him from watching porn during the working day.

Why is he doing this? To cheer up. Even short-term viewing activates the production of dopamine, which relieves stress a little, improves mood, improves attention and gives other buns.

But if watching porn is not tied to the mechanism of rewards, then the production of the hormone goes idle. The body gradually gets used to the presence of a hormone in the blood, so the effect requires a slightly larger dose - you need to watch porn a little longer.

Doesn’t resemble anything? That is how drug addicts and alcoholics behave. The mechanism of addiction to porn is completely similar. At one point, the dosage of dopamine will exceed the volumes that the body can absorb. It will be impossible to support the workflow or fully learn English in this state. In terms of the mechanism, this is similar to the withdrawal experienced by drug addicts and alcoholics. With the only difference - the body produces dopamine itself, but does not get it from the outside.

With studies, the situation is completely similar. After a “dose” of dopamine, a short-term improvement in memory and attention occurs, but then a rollback follows, in which attacks of irritability and distraction often occur. Learning and remembering new information becomes completely impossible.

Porn and learning english

We, as an online school of English, simply could not miss the research on how pornographic materials influence the study of English.

Oddly enough, but in porn movies quite a variety of vocabulary. The leader in the production of pornographic materials is the United States, so the vast majority of films are shot in English. In one such case, if you look at it from the beginning, rather than rewind to the most interesting places, from 100 to 500 unique words are found.

The vast majority of them are common vocabulary. That is, the most common words that English speakers use every day. The bulk of the dialogue is concentrated in the initial part of the video, which is not at all strange. At the same time, almost the same dialogues are played out in porn films as in ordinary textbooks.

There is no scientific research on the effect of pornography on learning English and is unlikely to ever appear. But we have some interesting suggestions on this subject.

Porn can really help learn basic vocabulary and phrases.

Vocabulary in porn movies is as simple as possible. As much as it can be. But at the same time she’s conversational - such phrases are used in real life.
The very short-term buff of memory and attention that causes the production of a dose of dopamine can really help remember these phrases.

But the most important condition for this is to watch the film from the very beginning, without rewinding. In this case, the brain in anticipation of “strawberries” will produce a hormone already while watching the initial scenes, which will help to remember vocabulary almost at a subconscious level.

There were even attempts to make video courses with porn stars that help to learn foreign languages. The Mirror edition even wrote about them . Individual courses were designed for 2 months, and in them the popular actresses of adult films really taught students foreign languages (no kidding). The assets of the "school" were English, French, Spanish and Japanese.

In fact, it was something like online lessons, but in the role of a teacher, a popular porn actress.

The courses examined the basic vocabulary, personal communication skills, and grammar of the language. The vocabulary was elementary, but nonetheless. For the correct answers to the questions, the girls were gradually exposed. During its existence, this impromptu online school of foreign languages has trained several thousand people. And we suspect that study was moving quite productively, because rewarding for the right answers was very welcome.

Now the project is already closed, but its description is still there. We are not sure that links to such can be placed here, but for those who are interested, you can drive the phrase “Camsoda language lessons” into the search.

So yes, under certain conditions, porn content can really help in learning foreign languages. And the experience of the Camsoda project confirms this. But if you want to really learn English, and not just hang out and get some new experience, there are much more effective ways.

Dry conclusions

In preparing the material, we found a bunch of articles on the Internet in which the authors talk about how pornography positively affects the creative process and stimulates mental activity.

Scientific research says the same thing, but with great nuances. And these nuances significantly outweigh even the theoretical benefits of porn for work and study.

As a result, it turns out that watching porn during the working day will bring much more negative consequences, and all the benefits will be measured in an extremely short period of time.

As for training, under certain conditions, porn content can really help in remembering information. But the problem is that no one will abide by these very conditions. Purely theoretically - why not, but in practice there are much more effective ways.

Learn English better with more traditional methods, using technology and the right motivation. If anything, we will help.

EnglishDom.com online school - inspire you to learn English through technology and human care

Only for readers of Habr the first lesson with the teacher on Skype for free ! And when you purchase classes, get up to 3 lessons as a gift!

Get a whole month of premium subscription to the ED Words app for free .
Enter the pornandlearn promo code on this page or directly in the ED Words app . The promotional code is valid until 05/09/2021.

Our products:

All Articles