Unbuckling the Bible Belt: A State-Level Analysis of Religious Factors and Google Searches for Porn

Abstract

While the link between individual religious characteristics and pornography consumption is well established, relatively little research has considered how the wider religious context may influence pornography use. Exceptions in the literature to date have relied on relatively broad, subjective measures of religious commitment, largely ignoring issues of religious belonging, belief, or practice. This study moves the conversation forward by examining how a variety of state-level religious factors predict Google searches for the term "porn," net of relevant sociodemographic and ideological controls. Our multivariate findings indicate that higher percentages of evangelical Protestants, theists, and Biblical literalists in a state predict higher frequencies of searching for "porn," as do higher church attendance rates. Conversely, higher percentages of religiously unaffiliated persons in a state predict lower frequencies of searching for "porn." Higher percentages of total religious adherents, Catholics, or Mainline Protestants in a state are unrelated to searching for "porn" with controls in place. Contrary to recent research, our analyses also show that higher percentages of political conservatives in a state predicted lower frequencies of "porn" searches. Our findings support theories that more salient, traditional religious influences in a state may influence residents-whether religious or not-toward more covert sexual experiences.

Do People in Conservative States Really Watch More Porn? A Hierarchical Analysis

“…In contrast, nonevangelicals or evangelicals who find themselves in nonconservative contexts may feel less social or cultural constraint and do not view pornography as a primary outlet for sexual energy. Alternatively, MacInnis and Hodson (2015) propose that religious and political conservatives may ultimately fixate on and consume the very object of their cultural disdain (i.e., In ancillary analyses, we also tested for mean worship attendance rate at the state level, as Whitehead and Perry (2018) found this to be correlated with Google searches for "porn" terms. There was a high degree of collinearity between this measure and the evangelical Protestant adherence rate, and ultimately, it neither predicted level 1 pornography use nor did it interact with any other individual-level factors.…”

“…However, we would also expect the broader religious and political context to moderate this trend. Whitehead and Perry (2018) proposed that communities characterized by more pervasive traditionalist values and stronger mechanisms of social control might inhibit the possibility of interpersonal sexual exploration and activity for individuals. This might drive individual men and women to consume pornography more regularly as opposed to those who live in contexts in which persons are less constrained.…”

“…145-46). And Whitehead and Perry (2018) acknowledged that "just because people are searching for porn (their key term) does not necessarily mean they are using it," and they called for "future studies to incorporate individual measures" (p. 281). specifically, persons who are more religiously or politically conservative personally (and thus more concerned with community reputation and sanctions; see Grubbs et al 2019;Perry 2019) will be more likely to regularly consume pornography if they live in more conservative states where there are more pervasive norms sanctioning overt sexual "deviance."…”

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

“…Unfortunately, the greatest strength of the GSS-the continuity of its measures over time-is sometimes its greatest weakness. Even so, while most Americans likely do not refer to pornographic material as "X-rated" anymore, they almost certainly know what the term means (Whitehead & Perry, 2017), and thus this limitation is not so serious. A related limitation is that the GSS measures of race dating back to 1973 only allow for a meaningful comparison between whites and blacks.…”

Pornography use and marital quality: Testing the moral incongruence hypothesis

“…Because religious communities almost unanimously oppose pornography (Whitehead & Perry, 2017), it is likely that religious commitment (however measured) in these studies is serving as a proxy for moral opposition to pornography use. What their findings imply is that Americans who violate their own moral convictions by using pornography are more likely to experience moral incongruence, which may lead them to withdraw from intimate relationships or otherwise be less invested.…”