United States Women and Pornography Through Four Decades: Exposure, Attitudes, Behaviors, Individual Differences

Abstract

Responding to a call for research on pornography and women's sexuality made by Weinberg, Williams, Kleiner, and Irizarry (2010), this study assessed pornography consumption, predictors, and correlates using nationally representative data gathered from U.S. women between 1973 and 2010 (N = 18,225). Women who were younger, less religious, and non-White were more likely to consume pornography. Women who consumed pornography had more positive attitudes toward extramarital sex, adult premarital sex, and teenage sex. Women who consumed pornography also had more sexual partners in the prior year, prior 5 years, and were more likely to have engaged in extramarital sex and paid sex. Consistent with Wright's (2011a) acquisition, activation, application model of mass media sexual socialization and the theorizing of Linz and Malamuth (1993), liberal-conservative ideology moderated the association between pornography exposure and sexual behavior. Specifically, the positive association between pornography exposure and women's recent sexual behavior was strongest for the most liberal women and weakest for the most conservative women. Cultural commentators and some academics argue that technological advances have resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of individuals who consume pornography. Little support was found for this assertion among U.S. women.

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

“…In individual analyses on porn consumption, political ideology, income, education, age, and marital status are all important variables (Perry, 2016b(Perry, , 2016cStack et al, 2004;Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013 …”

“…Consequently, religious groups, and most prominently conservative Protestants in the American context, strongly discourage any type of pornography, viewing it as a form of fornication that rouses and facilitates sexual desires about persons outside of marriage and encourages solo-masturbation (Driscoll, 2009;Sherkat & Ellison, 1997). It is unsurprising, then, that studies of religion's relationship to porn viewing among American adults consistently find that those who report greater religious commitment (measured in a variety of ways) or who hold theologically conservative identities and beliefs are more likely to report either not viewing pornography at all (Doran & Price, 2014;Grubbs et al, 2015;Maddox, Rhoades, & Markman, 2011;Nelson, Padilla-Walker, & Carroll, 2010;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry, 2016b;Stack, Wasserman, & Kern., 2004;Wright, 2013;Wright, Bae, & Funk, 2013) or doing so less frequently than others (Baltazar, Helm, McBride, Hopkins, & Stevens, 2010;Bridges & Morokoff, 2011;Carroll, Padilla-Walker, Nelson, Olson, Barry, & Madsen, 2008;Hardy, Steelman, Coyne, & Ridge, 2013;Perry, 2016c;Poulsen, Busby, & Galovan, 2013;Short, Kasper, & Wetterneck, 2015). …”

“…First, religion, as we operationalize it below with state-level measures, may serve to suppress searching for sexual content online. A host of studies at the individual level demonstrate that religious individuals-especially conservative Protestants, theists, those who interpret the Bible literally, and those who attend religious services frequently-report lower levels of porn consumption (Carroll et al, 2008;Perry, 2016bPerry, , 2016cStack et al, 2004;Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013). We would expect, then, that states with higher proportions of religious individuals, who report lower consumption of porn, will have lower levels of porn consumption as a whole.…”

Online erotica usage as a mediator between internet addiction and engagement in risky online sexual behaviors

“…With regard to online erotica, pornography consumption has been found to be common among both men and women in the U.S. (Shaughnessy, Byers, & Walsh, 2011;Wright, 2013;Wright, Bae, & Funk, 2013). In terms of general pornography viewing, 36% of men and 17% of women reported watching at least one pornographic movie in 2010, and these prevalence statistics have stayed rather stable across four decades (Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013).…”

“…In terms of general pornography viewing, 36% of men and 17% of women reported watching at least one pornographic movie in 2010, and these prevalence statistics have stayed rather stable across four decades (Wright, 2013;Wright et al, 2013). Meanwhile, with regard to Internet pornography specifically, Shaughnessy et al (2011) found that 83% of young adult men and 21% of young adult women reported solitary viewing of online sexually-explicit videos or photos during the last month.…”