Men who are unhappy in their relationships are more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, new research finds.

On the back of a recent study which suggested that men who regularly watch porn are more likely to become disinterested in sex with their partners, new research has proved otherwise.

While the former proposed that males addicted to adult movies lost interest in physical intimacy because their ‘sexual tolerance is higher,’ experts say that this concept oversimplifies the issue.

Instead, they believe that men turn to X-rated films as a means of avoiding their partners.

“Men use masturbation to compensate for lack of sexual satisfaction in relationships,” Dr David Ley, a clinical psychologist specialising in sexual problems told The Sun.

“As this sexual behaviour is often accompanied by viewing pornography, it can be easily misunderstood.”

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A team of researchers from Los Angeles, California, studied 335 men in relationships measuring erectile function, masturbation to adult films, and basic information, like age.

The data found that 22 per cent of men reported they preferred viewing porn to having sex with their partner and that 28 per cent opted for masturbation over intercourse.

Interestingly, the male participants that opted for masturbation also reported more difficulty maintaining erections and were much less happy in their relationships.

This, researchers say, proves that erectile dysfunction likely drives porn use, not the other way round.