How Much More XXX is Generation X Consuming? Evidence of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Pornography Since 1973

Abstract

We use data from the General Social Survey (GSS) over a 40-year period (1973-2012) to evaluate changes in attitudes about pornography and pornography consumption among American young adults. One of the major challenges in making comparisons across birth generations is separating the effect of birth cohort from age and period effects. We use an intrinsic estimator to separately identify the effects of age, birth cohort, and time period using 40 years of repeated cross-section data. We find that, relative to the general population, young people's beliefs about whether pornography should be illegal have stayed relatively constant over this 40-year period and, if anything, have slightly increased. We also find that pornography consumption has been increasing across birth generations, though this increase has been smaller than would be inferred based on differences across generations at a single point in time, due to a strong age component in consumption patterns.

Race and Trends in Pornography Viewership, 1973–2016: Examining the Moderating Roles of Gender and Religion

“…We consider gender first. Among the most consistent findings in pornography research is that men are far more likely to view pornography than women, and to do so more frequently (Carroll et al, 2008;Perry, 2016;Peterson & Hyde, 2011;Poulsen et al, 2013;Price et al, 2016;Regnerus et al, 2016;Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013). While some scholars suggest that evolutionary biology may play a role, other analyses have shown that much of this gender difference is due to internalized norms of "appropriate" sexual desire and behavior for men and women (Johansson & Hammaren, 2007;Peterson & Hyde, 2011).…”

“…Despite these limitations, which we discuss in greater detail below, because the survey question has been consistent over this time period it allows us to track trends in pornography viewership across different groups of interest. This outcome has also been widely used in previous studies of pornography consumption over time (Doran & Price, 2014;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry & Schleifer, 2017;Price et al, 2016;Regnerus, Gordon, & Price, 2016;Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013), and thus, is profitably used here to address our research questions.…”

“…Following the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s and the advent of smartphone technology in the mid-2000s, pornography has only become more accessible, affordable, and anonymous. Research also suggests that it has become more publicly acceptable, particularly for American men (Carroll et al, 2008;Lykke & Cohen, 2015;Price et al, 2016). To the extent that a lack of internalized norms against pornography viewership might influence black Americans, and black men especially, to view pornography at greater rates than their white counterparts, this trend would conceivably increase over time as various barriers to pornography use (cost, convenience, stigma, etc.)…”

“…Numerous studies focusing on pornography viewership have left race or ethnicity out entirely, often because the studies consisted of essentially mono-racial samples of college students (e.g., Carroll et al, 2008;Nelson, Padilla-Walker, & Carroll, 2010) or populations in Western European nations where there were very few non-whites (e.g., Hald, 2006;Peter & Valkenburg, 2011). Others had sufficient numbers of non-whites, but chose not to consider race/ethnicity as an important characteristic worth including in analyses or reporting (e.g., Goodson, McCormick, and Evans, 2001;Grubbs et al, 2015;Hardy et al, 2013;Poulsen, Busby, and Galovan, 2013;Price et al, 2016;Short, Kasper, & Wetterneck, 2015).…”

Pornography Use and Marital Quality: Testing the Moral Incongruence Hypothesis

“…While pornography use in general predicts lower marital quality later on regardless of whether the users are violating their own moral views, viewing pornography at higher frequencies while contradicting one's moral values may potentially take a toll on relationship quality. As attitudes toward pornography become more accepting in the United States (Lykke & Cohen, 2015;Price, Patterson, Regnerus, & Walley, 2016), it is possible that any moderating effect of moral incongruence will be attenuated. Conversely, if the attitudes of young Americans toward pornography are not changing tremendously (see Price et al, 2016) even as pornography use continues to increase, it may be that more Americans will find themselves in the situation where they are violating their own consciences in viewing pornography, thus holding greater consequences for mental health (Grubbs et al, 2015b;Perry, 2017b) or intimate relationships.…”