title: Getting stuck with pornography? Overuse or neglect of cybersex cues in a multitasking situation is related to symptoms of cybersex addiction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Some individuals consume cybersex contents, such as pornographic material, in an addictive manner, which leads to severe negative consequences in private life or work. One mechanism leading to negative consequences may be reduced executive control over cognition and behavior that may be necessary to realize goal-oriented switching between cybersex use and other tasks and obligations of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  To address this aspect,we investigated 104 male participants with an executive multitasking paradigm with two sets: One set consisted of pictures of persons, the other set consisted of pornographic pictures. In both sets the pictures had to be classified according to certain criteria. The explicit goal was to work on all classification tasks to equal amounts, by switching between the sets and classification tasks in a balanced manner.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that less balanced performance in this multitasking paradigm was associated with a higher tendency towards cybersex addiction. Persons with this tendency often either overused or neglected working on the pornographic pictures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that reduced executive control over multitasking performance, when being confronted with pornographic material, may contribute to dysfunctional behaviors and negative consequences resulting from cybersex addiction. However, individuals with tendencies towards cybersex addiction seem to have either an inclination to avoid or to approach the pornographic material, as discussed in motivational models of addiction.
authors: University of Duisburg-Essen Department of General Psychology, Cognition Forsthausweg 2 47057 Duisburg Germany.
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Schiebener
authors: University of Duisburg-Essen Department of General Psychology, Cognition Forsthausweg 2 47057 Duisburg Germany.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Laier
authors: University of Duisburg-Essen Department of General Psychology, Cognition Forsthausweg 2 47057 Duisburg Germany Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Essen Germany.
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Brand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003463:Cues; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Internet addiction; Internet pornography; cue-reactivity; cybersex; multitasking; psychopathological symptoms