Sexual Consent Communication in Best-Selling Pornography Films: A Content Analysis

Sexual Consent in Committed Relationships: A Dyadic Study

“…In our sample of dyads in committed relationships, participants tended to describe using consent cues that were verbal or nonverbal and explicit or implicit. Other ways that participants wrote about sexual consent in their relationship also corroborated previous research: escalation of behaviors (Muehlenhard et al, 2016), sexual behavior just happening (Willis, Canan, et al, 2020), and presence or absence of refusals . A novel set of themes that we considered in the present study regarded the perspective in which people described how they and their partner typically communicate their willingness to engage in sexual activity.…”

Effects of Pornography Use and Demographic Parameters on Sexual Response during Masturbation and Partnered Sex in Women

“…Third, content analyses of pornographic materials have been conducted to examine the extent to which exposure to beneficial/educational (e.g., providing clitoral stimulation during partnered sex), risky (e.g., condom-less sexual activity), or demeaning (e.g., lack of verbal consent during intercourse, sexual aggression, etc.) sexual scripts might increase the preponderance or social acceptability of such behaviors [24,26,27,58,59]. Despite the insights gained from these approaches, few studies have analyzed putative direct effects of pornography use on the sexual response cycle, including arousal and orgasmic parameters, comparing masturbatory and partnered sexual activities.…”

“…Researchers have also noted the potential for pornography to impart sexual techniques or behaviors that pose a risk to psychological health. For example, thematic content analysis of 50 commercially popular pornography films revealed that some films did not depict explicit verbal indicators of consent to sexual activity, and nonverbal indicators were not consistently salient [26]. In a similar vein, a survey of 140 heterosexual women in South Korea illustrated that the perception of pornography as a reliable source of sexual information was negatively correlated with the frequency of condom use during partnered sex [27], as was earlier initial exposure to pornography among Croatian young adults [28].…”

Using vignette methodology to study comfort with consensual and nonconsensual depictions of pornography content

“…On the other hand, those who engage with nonconsensual content may develop or reinforce previously held beliefs around the acceptability of nonconsensual sex. Because explicit verbal consent is uncommon in mainstream pornography (Willis, Canan, Jozkowski, Bridges, 2019), it may also be that those who are comfortable with nonconsensual pornography may not realize the importance of consent in sexual activity. Similarly, those who have more positive attitudes toward consent may have received more information about sexual consent or attended sexual consent workshops and have a more critical understanding regarding the interpretation of consent in different scenarios.…”

“…Women and men use indirect cues to passively indicate their consent by not resisting their partner's advances (Humphreys & Brousseau, 2010). Indirect consent cues, such as token resistance and passive sexual behavior, are commonplace in mainstream pornography (Willis, Canan, Jozkowski & Bridges, 2019). A preference for such representations may be reflective of an individual's approach to intimacy or beliefs about the acceptability of such behaviour.…”