TIPURQ: Testing the Impacts of Pornography Use on Relationship Quality
Project head
Taylor Kohut, PhD, Professor at the Université catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, Ecole de Psychologie, https://uclouvain.be/en/directories/taylor.kohut) and Postdoctoral Fellow at Western University (Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/research/social_and_personality/postdoctoral_fellows.html)
Consortium
The consortium consists of several professorships in North America and Europe.
Project aim
The TIPURQ study focuses on adults in romantic relationships lasting longer than 6 months. Similarities and differences in sexual interests (e.g. with regard to pornography) and their correlation with the perceived relationship quality are to be investigated. Female, male and mixed-sex couples will be included.
Relevance
The TIPURQ study is of scientific and practical relevance, because a better understanding of sexuality in couple relationships contributes to the state of research and can be used fruitfully in the counseling and therapy of couples.
Funding
The study is funded by Le Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique in Belgium (grant number: 40014334).
Project duration
Ongoing since 2023
Research ethics
The online survey of the couples is conducted anonymously with the informed consent of the participants. The two partners of a couple are assigned to each other using a code. In order to ensure that truly romantic couples participate, a verifying online meeting is conducted with both partners while ensuring data protection. An ethics vote was obtained at all universities involved in the project.
Sub-project at the TU Ilmenau
The Media Psychology and Media Design Group contributes to the TIPURQ project by recruiting couples from Germany. This involves supporting the translation of the project materials and survey instruments into German as well as the recruitment and initial verification online interview with couples who meet the inclusion criteria.
