Pornography Consumption and Sexual Choking: An Evaluation of Theoretical Mechanisms

Attitudes and Sexual Behaviours Associated With Adolescent Online Pornography Consumption: A Critical Commentary During COVID-19

“…Furthermore, females being strangled during intercourse has become a popular experience among sexual partners. This desensitisation effect has been associated to pornography where strangulation is commonly depicted and believed to be a safe and pleasurable practice (Wright et al, 2021). Tolerance develops to behaviours observed with the consequence that adolescents' expectations of depicted sexual behaviours between male and female partners are believed to be normal.…”

“…In fact, research consistently suggests that many females are pressured into imitating what their boyfriends have seen online (DeKeseredy & Corsianos, 2016;Foubert et al, 2019;Mead & Sharpe, 2020;Shor, 2019;Stanley et al, 2018;Ybarra & Thompson, 2018). Acting out pornographic scenes have been associated with intimate partner violence (Rodenhizer & Edwards, 2019), which includes dangerous sexual practices such as sexual strangulation (Mead & Sharpe, 2020;Wright et al, 2021).…”

Sexual Addiction, Hypersexual Behavior and Relative Psychological Dynamics during the Period of Social Distancing and Stay-at-Home Policies Due to COVID-19

“…According to Grubbs et al, the role of the media could be fundamental for the development and maintenance of problematic behaviors, including dysfunctional sexual behaviors [ 22 ]. As showed by Wright and collaborators [ 23 ], there is some social influence in learning new sexual practices and desires related to them. He integrated the concept of sexual scripting with research and theory from communication, media effects, observational learning, and information processing into a sexual script—the acquisition, activation, application model of sexual media socialization—and found supporting evidence [ 23 ] which this leads us to consider whether modifying the messages transmitted by the media could be one of the ways to oppose dysfunctional sexuality in favor of healthy sexual practices.…”

Frequent and Recent Non-fatal Strangulation/Choking During Sex and Its Association With fMRI Activation During Working Memory Tasks

“…Being strangled, or “choked” as it is colloquially termed, has emerged worldwide as a popular behavior in partnered sexual activities, as it may increase pleasure and lead to euphoric feelings when oxygen supply is returned to the brain and is part of a general increase in rough sex behaviors (Sun et al, 2017 ; Herbenick et al, 2020 , 2021a ; Wright et al, 2021 ). Strangulation/choking as a partnered sex behavior is disproportionately experienced by women.…”

“…In contrast, only 6% of undergraduate men reported being choked more than five times (Herbenick et al, 2021a ). While depictions of choking in pornography can lead viewers to believe that choking a sexual partner is pleasurable and safe (Wright et al, 2021 ), choking is commonly considered to be a rough sex behavior that may increase the risk of injury in a sexual encounter (Herbenick et al, 2019 ). Being choked by a sexual partner was often described as a scary experience in a population-based probability survey of Americans between 14 and 60 years old (Herbenick et al, 2019 ), and strangulation is a common component of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women (McQuown et al, 2016 ; Pritchard et al, 2017 ).…”