What is porn addiction?
Porn addiction, like addiction to any other substance or “object,” can be explained by “operant conditioning.”
If you are rewarded for engaging in a particular behaviour, in this case seeing pornographic material, you are more likely to engage in that conduct again (and again).
All sorts of activities can be rewarding and so have an effect on our behaviour, but porn can be particularly so since it appeals to one of our most primal innate drives.
Because of this, it’s not hard to see how porn could become addictive; it appeals to a basic (albeit pleasurable) primal urge. It’s also considerably less difficult to attain than the search for a romantic partner.
It’s problematic when the pursuit of sexual pleasure becomes compulsive or out of control, to the point where it interferes with or even replaces other important parts of one’s life. If that’s the case, we could claim the person is addicted to porn and they should likely seek porn addiction treatment at a rehab center.