Back in March Pornhub launched a new initiative that offered a $25,000 grant for “a human sexuality research project.” The money was for University faculty members to support research carried out by students to help advance the "technological, medical, or sociologically" fields for a better sex life.
The lucky faculty member has now been awarded to University of Kansas psychology professor Omri Gillath, Ph.D., who will also work with Dr. Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan and Katie Adams - becoming the first trio of scientists studying porn with money from a porn site.
The study will take place over the next 18-months and will look at the long-term and short-term effects of avid porn watchers. “Porn is becoming a part of the mainstream,” Omri tells Inverse. “We don’t tend to look too much on the consequences.” He added: “For many years there was a trend. Researchers with a negative bias coming into the area and almost forcing their negative bias on the research of porn.”
Omri says the study may bring about options like people consuming more porn than real relationships that would fit into the tendency of less sex and fewer marriages, but as Omri states nothing will be known for sure until after the study.
“Some of what Pornhub is trying to do now is making sure that it’s treating seriously its role in society,” Omri noted. “It’s entertainment, sure, it’s a source of arousal, of course. But it’s also an educational source and we need to be serious about that as well.”