Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Reasons for Pornography Consumption: Associations with Gender, Psychological and Physical Sexual Satisfaction, and Attitudinal Impacts

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation is to examine the associations among gender and reasons for pornography consumption as well as attitudinal impacts. One hundred and forty-three participants, ranging in age from 18 to 48 (M = 21.22), participated in an online study at a large, southwestern university. Seventy-six of these participants identified as current consumers of pornography and are the primary focus of the analyses. Findings indicate that regardless of gender, pornography is preferably consumed in a solitary fashion for masturbatory purposes with a perceived positive physical, but not psychological, sexual satisfying impact for the self as well as for the consuming partner. Further, regarding attitudinal impacts, current male consumers of pornography report significantly higher adversarial sexual beliefs, rape myth acceptance and sexual conservatism than do current female consumers of pornography. Discussion and future directions follow.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelson, R. P. (1981). Psychological status of the script concept. American Psychologist, 36, 715–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, M., Emmers, T. M., Gebhardt, L. J., & Giery, M. (1995). Exposure to pornography and acceptance of rape myths: A research summary using meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 45(1), 5–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). New York: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 217–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers, E. S. (1996). How well does the traditional sexual script explain sexual coercion? review of a program of research. In E. S. Byers & L. F. Sullivan (Eds.), Sexual coercion in dating relationships (pp. 7–26). New York: Haworth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corne, S., Briere, J., & Esses, L. (1992). Women’s attitudes and fantasies about rape as a function of early exposure to pornography. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 454–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmers-Sommer, T. M. (2002). Sexual coercion and resistance in M. Allen, R. Preiss, Gayle, & N. Burrell (Eds.), Interpersonal communication: Advances in meta-analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah (pp. 315–343).

  • Emmers-Sommer, T. M., Farrell, J., Gentry, A., Stevens, S., Eckstein, J., Battocletti, J., et al. (2010). First date sexual expectations, sexual- and gender-related attitudes: The effects of who asked, who paid, date location, and gender. Communication Studies, 61, 339–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmers-Sommer, T. M., Hertlein, K., & Kennedy, M. A. (2013). Pornography use and attitudes: An examination of relational and sexual openness variables between and within gender. Marriage and Family Review, 49, 349–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmers-Sommer, T. M., Triplett, L., Pauley, P., Hanzal, A., & Rhea, D. (2005). The impact of film manipulation on men and women’s attitudes toward women and film editing. Sex Roles, 52(9–10), 683–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammaren, N., & Johansson, T. (2007). Hegemonic masculinity and pornography: Young people’s attitudes toward and relations to pornography. Journal of Men’s Studies, 15, 57–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hynie, M., Lydon, J. E., Cote′, S., & Wiener, S. (1998). Relational sexual scripts and women’s condom use: The importance of internalized norms. Journal of Sex Research, 35, 370–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohut, T., Baer, J. L., & Waits, B. (2016). Is pornography really about “making hate to women”? Pornography users hold more gender egalitarian attitudes than nonusers in a representative American sample. Journal of Sex Research, 53, 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, N. M., Negash, S., Stillman, T. F., Olmstead, S. B., & Fincham, F. D. (2012). A love that doesn’t last: Pornography consumption and weakened commitment to one’s romantic partner. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31, 410–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liberatore, S. (2017). More women watch porn on smartphones than men: Pornhub reveals 80% of its female viewers use mobile devices. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/women-watch-porn-mobile-phones9997081. Accessed June 9, 2017.

  • McKee, A. (2005). The objectification of women in mainstream pornographic videos in Australia. The Journal of Sex Research, 42, 277–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metts, S., & Spitzberg, B. H. (1996). Sexual communication in interpersonal contexts: A script-based approach. In B. R. Burleson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 19 (pp. 49–91). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, C. (2015). Things are looking up in America’s porn industry. http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/things-are-looking-americas-pornindustryn289431. Accessed May 17, 2017.

  • Poulsen, F. O., Busby, D. M., & Gallovan, A. M. (2013). Pornography use: Who uses it and how it is related to couple outcomes. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 72–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, S. (2015). https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/movies/candida-royalle-maker-of-x-rated-films-dies-at-64.html?_r=0. Accessed June 12, 2017.

  • Romito, P., & Beltramini, L. (2011). Watching pornography: Gender differences, violence and victimization. An exploratory study in Italy. Violence Against Women, 17, 1313–1326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1984). Sexual scripts. Society, 22, 53–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1987). Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15, 97–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (2003). Sexual scripts: Origins, influences and changes. Qualitative Sociology, 26, 491–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stack, S., Wasserman, I., & Kern, R. (2004). Adult social bonds and the use of Internet pornography. Social Science Quarterly, 85, 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staley, C., & Prause, N. (2012). Erotica viewing effects on intimate relationships and self/partner evaluation. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-0034-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiefer, L. (2006). Sex therapy as a humanistic enterprise. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 21, 360–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, M. S., Williams, C. J., Kleiner, S., & Irizarry, Y. (2010). Pornography, normalization and empowerment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 1389–1401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiederman, M. W. (2005). The gendered nature of sexual scripts. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 13, 496–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. J. (2013). Internet pornography exposure and women’s attitude towards extramarital sex: An exploratory study. Communication Studies, 64, 315–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J. (1986). Shifting preferences in pornography consumption. Communication Research, 13, 560–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

    Tara M. Emmers-Sommer

Authors
  1. Tara M. Emmers-Sommer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tara M. Emmers-Sommer.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author is not aware of any conflict of interest pertained to this manuscript.

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Emmers-Sommer, T.M. Reasons for Pornography Consumption: Associations with Gender, Psychological and Physical Sexual Satisfaction, and Attitudinal Impacts. Sexuality & Culture 22, 48–62 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9452-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9452-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation