Neil M Malamuth

University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA · Department of Communication Studies

This article describes theory and research on the effects of pornography and on gender differences in the consumption of such sexually explicit materials. The three major ideological/theoretical perspectives (Conservative/Moralist, Liberal, and Radical Feminist) that have particularly influenced the scientific research in this area are described an...

This article focuses on the characteristics of sexually violent men who have not been convicted of a crime. The objective of this study was to test the four key interrelated pillars of the Confluence Model. The first key pillar posits the interaction of Hostile Masculinity and Impersonal Sex as core risk predictors. The second pillar entails a “med...

To better understand how sexualized music videos affect women’s responses to intimate partner violence (IPV), we examined the role of individual variability in perceived victim pain and perceived victim culpability in moderating and mediating (respectively) the priming effects of sexual music videos on women. Female Fijian college students (n = 243...

Researchers have theorized and empirically shown that compared with low rape myth acceptance (RMA) individuals, those high in RMA are more likely to discount rape prevention messages. These researchers have urged the development of approaches to counteract the defensiveness and related processes that are presumed to cause such discounting. In the p...

This article is the first to integrate the vast research literatures on non-consenting adult and on child pornography (also a form of non-consenting pornography) by using the framework of the Confluence Model of sexual aggression. In contrast to the contradictory conclusions reached by various reviewers and commentators who have typically emphasize...

The Confluence Model was the first empirical multifactorial integration of the risk factors that contribute to sexual aggression, particularly among non‐criminal males, with a corresponding attempt at theoretical understanding of these factors. This chapter elaborates on the latest version of this model, which incorporates both factors contributing...

The following is a review of pornography consumption patterns and effects of pornography on attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors. The review shows that pornography is widely circulated and used; predominately nonviolent pornography is used; main media outlets for consumption are the Internet, videos/DVDs, television, and magazines; and most often p...

We highlight evolutionary psychological perspectives on sexual coercion, with consideration to hypotheses regarding evolved mechanisms for both males and females. We suggest that over evolutionary history, the possibility of being raped is liable to have been a particularly costly adaptive risk for females relative to the potential adaptive gains f...

This chapter discusses evolutionary psychological (EP) perspectives on sexual coercion. In applying the EP paradigm, it considers the clues to motivational differences between males and females that may "set the stage" for the potential occurrence of sexual coercion generally. The chapter centers the reader's attention on the male perpetrator's psy...

We investigated attitudes and behaviors associated with prostitution and sexual aggression among 101 men who buy sex and 101 age-, education-, and ethnicity-matched men who did not buy sex. Both groups tended to accept rape myths, be aware of harms of prostitution and trafficking, express ambivalence about the nature of prostitution, and believe th...

Using a randomly selected community sample of 200 Danish young adult men and women in a randomized experimental design, the study investigated the effects of a personality trait (agreeableness), past pornography consumption, and experimental exposure to non-violent pornography on attitudes supporting violence against women (ASV). We found that lowe...

Using a probability-based sample of young Danish adults and a randomized experimental design, this study investigated effects of past pornography consumption, experimental exposure to nonviolent pornography, perceived realism of pornography, and personality (i.e., agreeableness) on sexist attitudes (i.e., attitudes toward women, hostile and benevol...

Research on sex and pornography as media content has often been divided into two categories, depending on whether the sexual stimuli are embedded within a larger context or not. The first type may be illustrated by TV soap operas or movies in which some of the scenes, although typically not a majority, include references to or actual portrayals of...

Using a probability-based sample of young Danish adults and a randomized experimental design, this study investigated effects of past pornography consumption, experimental exposure to nonviolent pornography, perceived realism of pornography, and personality (i.e., agreeableness) on sexist attitudes (i.e., attitudes toward women, hostile and benevol...

Based on the Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression, we hypothesized that individual differences in risk for sexual aggression moderate the association between pornography use and attitudes supporting violence against women. This hypothesis was in keeping with the findings of a recent meta-analysis which indicated such a positive association between...

The influence of pornography on attitudes and behaviors has been a longstanding question that has provoked considerable debate among researchers (Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000; Marshall, 2000). Evidence associating pornography consumption with aggression would be important, not only for public policy and legislation, but in the assessment and tre...

Do media portrayals of interpersonal violence engender aggression among the observers? This question has been the focus of social scientific inquiry for over a quarter of a century. The initial research efforts of numerous investigators led to the surgeon general's research program on television and social behavior in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

A meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether nonexperimental studies revealed an association between men's pornography consumption and their attitudes supporting violence against women. The meta-analysis corrected problems with a previously published meta-analysis and added more recent findings. In contrast to the earlier meta-analysis, the c...

This article reviews the extant literature regarding pornography's influence on antisocial attitudes, sexual arousal, and sexually aggressive behavior in both noncriminal and criminal samples. The article concludes that when examined in the context of multiple, interacting factors, the findings are highly consistent across experimental and nonexper...

Path analysis was used to assess the contribution of four exogenous developmental variables (sexual abuse, physical abuse, exposure to violence, exposure to pornography—each occurring prior to age 13) and four personality constructs (“psychopathic and antagonistic attitudes,” “psychosocial deficits,” “pedophilia,” “hostile masculinity”) to the pred...

The self-perceived effects of "hardcore" pornography consumption were studied in a large representative sample of young adult Danish men and women aged 18-30. Using a survey that included the newly developed Pornography Consumption Effect Scale, we assessed participants' reports of how pornography has affected them personally in various areas, incl...

Research on sex media has often been divided into two categories, depending on whether the sexual stimuli are embedded within a larger context or not. The first type, illustrated by a TV soap opera in which some of the scenes, although typically not a majority, include references to or actual portrayals of sexual interactions, depicted in varying d...

The Perspective of This ChapterSome Key Issues in the Social Psychological LiteratureA Comprehensive FrameworkAggression Research in Humans and Other AnimalsCalibration/Modulation of Psychological MechanismsSituational Activation of Psychological MechanismsConcluding Remarks

The main focus of the present study was to examine the unique contribution (if any) of pornography consumption to men's sexually aggressive behavior. Even after controlling for the contributions of risk factors associated with general antisocial behavior and those used in Confluence Model research as specific predictors of sexual aggression, we fou...

The theoretical linkage of empathy to sexually aggressive and antisocial behavior is reviewed, and assessment conducted on the role of emotional empathy in the non-sexual delinquent behavior of juvenile sexual offenders. In examination of developmental antecedents of empathy, self-reported parental attachment and positive fathering experiences were...

In contrast to widely held beliefs, I suggest that research conducted with either criminal or noncriminal samples of sexually aggressive men actually reveals many similar characteristics shared by both groups. The Hierarchical-Mediational Confluence (HMC) model is presented here to integrate these findings. As relatively distal risk factors, it inc...

Neil Malamuth is a professor and chair of the Communication Studies Program and Speech Department ar the University of California at Los Angeles.

This article focuses on the effects of exposure to pornography on teenagers, particularly males, and concentrates on sexually aggressive outcomes and on the characteristics of the individual as crucial in determining whether pornography consumption may or may not lead to sexually aggressive outcomes. In future work, it is important not to use an ov...

Childhood exposure to violence against females and male-modeled antisocial behavior were examined as risk factors for sexual aggression, and nonsexual aggression and delinquency, in a sample of 182 adolescent male sex offenders using structural equation modeling. Both risk factors produced direct and indirect effects on nonsexual aggression and del...

The study reported here represents the first attempt to explicitly test the validity of social dominance theory's subordinate-male-target hypothesis (SMTH)--the reasoning that implies that in the case of arbitrary-set discrimination, aggression and aggressive intent should be primarily directed against out-group men rather than out-group women. The...

Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also su...

In contrast to widely held beliefs, I suggest that research conducted with either criminal or noncriminal samples of sexually aggressive men actually reveals many similar characteristics shared by both groups. The Hierarchical-Mediational Confluence (HMC) model is presented here to integrate these findings. As relatively distal risk factors, it inc...

Adolescent males who sexually offended against prepubescent children were contrasted with those who targeted pubescent and postpubescent females. As hypothesized, path analyses revealed that the former group had greater deficits in psychosocial functioning, used less aggression in their sexual offending, and were more likely to offend against relat...

This article describes theory and research regarding the effects of pornography and on explaining gender differences in the consumption of such sexually explicit materials. The three major ideological/theoretical perspectives (Conservative/Moralist, Liberal and Radical Feminist) that have particularly influenced the scientific research in this area...

In a study of 124 dating couples, we tested a discrete systems model of the functions of two emotion systems in romantic relationships: love and anger/upset. This model posits that the operation of these systems reflects adaptations shaped by natural selection to solve different adaptive problems. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the love and ange...

In a study of 124 dating couples, we tested a discrete systems model of the functions of two emotion systems in romantic relationships: love and anger/upset. This model posits that the operation of these systems reflects adaptations shaped by natural selection to solve different adaptive problems. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the love and ange...

In response to some recent critiques, we (a) analyze the arguments and data presented in those commentaries, (b) integrate the findings of several metaanalytic summaries of experimental and naturalistic research, and (c) conduct statistical analyses on a large representative sample. All three steps support the existence of reliable associations bet...

This chapter describes the recent developments in a research program studying the characteristics of sexually aggressive men identified in general population samples. The chapter has attempted to organize this line of research in a way that the earlier studies are used to build upon and inform the subsequent ones, with the goal of benefitting from...

Describes recent developments in a research program studying the characteristics of sexually aggressive men identified in general population samples. A model of the profile of sexual aggressors is presented, indicating that they may be characterized by certain developmental (early childhood and adolescent) and current personality and behavioral cha...

The authors showed that the extent to which men's personalities were self-centered rather than sensitive to others' needs moderated the connection between risk factors and sexually aggressive behavior. Men who were at risk for committing aggression but who were also sensitive to others' feelings aggressed less than the corresponding group, who had...

A model of the characteristics of sexually aggressive men is described which emphasizes the convergence of several interrelated factors. After enumerating the major factors included in the model and the way we have assessed each, we present data showing that these factors form two largely independent constellations, labeled hostile masculinity and...

Forty-eight couples completed a measure of relationship satisfaction and participated in 2 video-taped problem-solving interactions, 1 focused on an issue identified by the woman and 1 focused on an issue identified by the man. Thirty-six men and 36 women completed the satisfaction measure again 2.5 years later. Demandingness, and to a lesser exten...

We tested a model describing the characteristics of sexually aggressive men that may also be useful for understanding the causes of other antisocial acts against women. This model hypothesizes that sexual aggressors can be identified by two sets of characteristics, labeled hostile masculinity and impersonal sex. To test this model, we followed up a...

The authors tested three explanations of findings that sexually aggressive men perceive women's communications differently than less aggressive men. The first suggests that aggressors are incompetent in decoding women's negative emotions. The second posits that they fail to make subtle distinctions between women's friendliness and seductiveness and...

The authors tested three explanations of findings that sexually aggressive men perceive women's communications differently than less aggressive men. The first suggests that aggressors are incompetent in decoding women's negative emotions. The second posits that they fail to make subtle distinctions between women's friendliness and seductiveness and...

This study assessed the ability of certain variables to predict which men would be more domineering in conversations with a woman and/or with a man. The variables included men's self-reported sexually aggressive behavior and several components comprising a personality profile labeled “Hostile Masculinity.” As expected, these variables successfully...

Although some male adolescents may be harmed by exposure to pornography, little research addresses this issue directly, partly because of ethical and political restraints. The author discusses definitions of both pornography and harm as well as the extent and effect of exposure among male adolescents.

Structural equation modeling was used to study the characteristics of college men (N = 2,652) who aggressed against women either sexually, nonsexually, or both. According to the model, hostile childhood experiences affect involvement in delinquency, leading to aggression through two paths: (a) hostile attitudes and personality, which result in coer...

In this second article of a two‐part series, data from three separate studies are presented supporting the reliability, discriminant, and construct validity of the Attraction to Sexual Aggression (ASA) scale. Higher scores on this scale were associated with attitudes supporting aggression against women, affective reactions to media portrayals of fo...

Comments that the article by C. E. Koop (see record 1988-04284-001) reporting on the Workshop on Pornography and Public Health did not distinguish between Koop's views and the consensus of the participating social scientists. The consensus report listed a cautious and scientifically well-supported set of conclusions that were less definitive than...

Comments that the article by C. E. Koop (see record 1988-04284-001 ) reporting on the Workshop on Pornography and Public Health did not distinguish between Koop's views and the consensus of the participating social scientists. The consensus report listed a cautious and scientifically well-supported set of conclusions that were less definitive than...

A scale designed to measure attraction to sexual aggression is described, based on earlier work assessing self‐reported likelihood of committing rape. This scale's associations with measures of theoretically relevant attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral inclinations are examined in comparison with briefer measures, and with a number of other scal...

This study assessed the ability of several variables to predict men's laboratory aggression against female and male victims. The predictors were chosen on the basis of their associations with sexual aggression against women in naturalistic settings. On the whole, these variables successfully predicted laboratory aggression against the female target...

We assessed whether a relationship exists between the degree of men's exposure to Playboy and Penthouse magazines and the frequency of their sexual and hostile-aggressive fantasies. No significant relationships were found between frequency of readership of Playboy and either sexual or aggressive fantasies. This finding supported the contention by P...

We present a model hypothesizing indirect effects of media sexual violence on aggression against women. It suggests that certain cultural factors (including mass media) and individual variables interact to affect some people's thought patterns and other responses that may lead to antisocial behavior, including aggression. Two streams of current res...

This research integrated within a theoretical and empirical framework varied predictor factors pertaining to males' sexual aggression against women. The selection of predictors was guided by theorizing that sexual aggression is caused by the interaction among multiple factors, including those creating the motivation for the act, those reducing inte...

In two experiments we assessed the impact of aggression on nonrapists' sexual arousal. In the first, both male subjects (n = 37) and female subjects (n = 43) reported more sexual arousal in response to nonaggressive than to aggressive depictions when the portrayals were sexually explicit, but the opposite occurred when the portrayals were nonsexual...

This study examined the relatively long-term effects of repeated exposure to violent and nonviolent pornography on males' laboratory aggression against women. Self-reported likelihood of raping was also assessed as an individual differences variable that might mediate susceptibility to the effects of pornography and to ascertain whether it predicte...

This experiment assessed the effects of media depictions that portray rape myths on men's beliefs in such myths. The study was conducted in two separate sessions. At the orientation session, measures of personality, motivation, experience, and aggressive tendencies were administered to 307 males. In the experimental session, 145 of these men were f...

In one of the early classic articles on loneliness, Zilboorg (1938) claimed that lonely individuals are hostile and aggressive. The present research tested this proposition. Two samples of males were given a measure of loneliness and various measures of hostility. Ninety-one subjects in the second study were also given the opportunity to administer...

This study tested the hypothesis that high scorers on the Eysencks' P scale would become more sexually aroused by erotic material of a violent nature than low scorers. One hundred and forty-five college Ss were exposed to erotic auditory messages varying in degree of violence and pain experienced by the victim. Personality was assessed by a median...

Although Eysenck's book Sex and Personality would seem to have broad implications for understanding sexual behavior, there has been relatively little empirical research that has attempted to test Eysenck's theory. The present research tested aspects of this theory by examining the correlations between personality characteristics and a variety of se...

Analysis of the causes of male violence against women requires consideration of the interaction among three types of factors—cultural factors that affect members of the society in general, the psychological makeup of individuals who are more likely to commit such acts of violence, and situational factors that may suppress or trigger the actual expr...

The major purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent stimuli (SVS) in relatively ‘naturalistic settings’ on sexual arousal to rape and nonrape stimuli. Repeated exposure effects using nonviolent erotica were also examined. Sixty-nine male Ss participated in the study. A preexposure session was...

Data are presented concerning the ethics of exposing undergraduate students to pornographic rape portrayals followed by a debriefing designed to dispel a number of rape myths. One hundred fifty males and females were randomly assigned to read pornographic stories. Some of these depicted a rape, whereas others depicted mutually consenting intercours...

This two‐phase experiment was conducted in response to recent ethical concerns about the possible antisocial effects of exposing research subjects to pornographic rape portrayals. In Phase 1, subjects were randomly assigned to read either an “acquaintance” rape depiction, a “stranger” rape depiction, or to read control materials. Subjects who read...

Varied sources of data suggest that male aggression against females occurs with considerable frequency among young people. For example, Giarusso, Johnson, Goodchilds, and Zellman (1979) reported that over 50% of the large sample of male high school students interviewed believed that it was acceptable “…for a guy to hold a girl down and force her to...

This study examined the relation between factors associated with "real"-world aggression against women and laboratory aggression. In the first phase of the research, assessment was made of the attitudes about aggression against women and of the sexual responsiveness to rape of 42 male subjects. In the second phase of the research, which subjects be...

The present study compared the relative effectiveness of sexuality variables versus attitudes hypothesized to be rape-supportive in the prediction of “likelihood to rape” (LR) and “likelihood to use sexual force” (LF) measures. This research was guided by the suggestion that understanding the variables which underlie LR and LF may shed light on the...

Tested 2 hypotheses implicit in the sex-role socialization analysis of rape: that reactions to rape may be affected (a) by the situational context in which a rape is portrayed and (b) by individual differences in sex role stereotyping. 289 male and female college students were classified as either high or low in sex-role stereotyping. They were the...