Sex on the internet: furthering our understanding of men with online sexual problems.

Abstract

A survey on the MSNBC Web site identified 384 men as having online sexual problems (OSP). Respondents' reasons for online sexual activity (OSA) and their preferred Internet medium were associated with several online and offline consequences and behaviors, including important aspects of real-time relationships and sexual experimentation. Two broad behavior patterns manifested by men with OSP were identified: Men who use the Internet (a) to further their real-time sex lives and (b) as a substitute for their real-time sex lives. Men who facilitate their offline sex lives with the Internet might do so for any number of reasons, many of which are adaptive (e.g., sex education, to purchase sexual materials). Future research should use samples from a variety of affinity Web portals to further examine the factors that differentiate individuals who show no negative effects of OSA from those who do.