Love for hentai porn does not usually translate into desire and ability to build relationships in the real world. But anime characters still seem more attractive to fans of this type of pornography, scientists have found.
Researchers from Macquarie University (Australia) and Stockholm University (Sweden), whose article in the magazine Sexologies, for the first time engaged in the study of the psychological characteristics of people who are addicted to hentai – a very popular genre of pornography around the world based on anime characters (Japanese animation).
To do this, scientists conducted an online survey, which was attended by 208 volunteers of different sexes, whose average age was 21 years. Among them, 29% were consumers of both hentai and regular porn, 38% did not watch hentai but were into other types of porn, and 33% did not watch any porn at all.
In addition to answering questions, participants had to rate the degree of sexual attractiveness of various pornographic images.
An analysis of the results of the survey showed that, as expected, hentai fans find images of anime characters more attractive than participants from the other two groups. However, there was no difference in the attractiveness of images of real people between the groups. That is, the passion for cartoon characters did not affect the perception of the participants from this group in any way: they, just like the rest, liked something more in the pictures they saw with real people, and something less.
Similarly, hentai lovers would of course be more tempted to have a romantic relationship with an anime character. But this does not affect their desire to have an affair with a living person – at this point they showed about the same results as participants from other groups.
Another discovery is that, contrary to the researchers’ expectations, hentai craze does not seem to be based on a subconscious fear of relationships with a real person. In any case, the researchers found no difference between the groups in the desire to avoid emotional attachment in a relationship. At the same time, amateurs (but not amateurs) of hentai were found to have higher levels of relationship anxiety than non-porn viewers.
They were more likely to agree with statements like “I’m worried about being dumped”
The study of the psychology of hentai consumers needs to be continued, in a commentary for the PsyPost website, the lead author of the study, Jonathan Park.
“Every day, millions of people around the world watch anime and hentai, and this is reflected in their behavior, thoughts, lives and careers. The lack of knowledge about the psychological consequences of hentai and anime addiction can lead to serious consequences, ”he explained, adding that, for example, it is not yet clear whether the results of research on porn addiction are applicable to hentai users.
1. «The differentiation between consumers of hentai pornography and human pornography», Sexologies
2. «Psychologists have started to examine how hentai consumers differ from people who do not consume hentai», PsyPost