Abstract

Pornography rate has been massively large after the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite its strict prohibition in Malaysia, the consumption patterns and rate still appear to grow rapidly. Consuming pornography is said to affect one’s mental health leading to a range of psychological distress such as depression and anxiety. This consumption is heavily influenced by a range of motives. Building upon Uses and Gratification Theory, this conceptual paper aims to identify the motives behind pornography consumption towards risky mental health effects. Using one of the earliest framework developed under this theory, this study also incorporates religiosity as a moderator to better capture the sociocultural realities within the Malaysian context. This proposed study can be conducted through a quantitative based survey research using purposive sampling method to identify local adults aged 18 and above who admits consuming porn actively. Based on past literatures, this paper predicts the findings that among all listed motives, sexually-related motives appear to be the prominent reason behind heavy pornographic usage. Based on the traditional framework, it is identified as affective need. Furthermore, a significant effect was also predicted towards developing risky mental health effects. Excessive pornography may influence one’s identity development and self-worth. The findings suggest that religiosity plays a crucial influence in the relationship as well. Despite its taboo, this concept paper emphasizes the necessity of future researchers to continue educating generations on the pros and cons of pornography consumption and how it affects one’s mental health. These interventions can together make everyone culturally responsive in navigating better media choices.