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The Nature and Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth

Authors:
Chiara Sabina at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Chiara Sabina
Janis Wolak
Janis Wolak
Janis Wolak
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David Finkelhor at University of New Hampshire
David Finkelhor
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Abstract

We examined exposure to Internet pornography before the age of 18, as reported by college students (n = 563), via an online survey. Ninety-three percent of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to online pornography during adolescence. Exposure prior to age 13 was relatively uncommon. Boys were more likely to be exposed at an earlier age, to see more images, to see more extreme images (e.g., rape, child pornography), and to view pornography more often, while girls reported more involuntary exposure. If participants in this study are typical of young people, exposure to pornography on the Internet can be described as a normative experience, and more study of its impact is clearly warranted.
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C
YBER
P
SYCHOLOGY
& B
EHAVIOR
Volume 11, Number 6, 2008
© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0179
Rapid Communication
The Nature and Dynamics of Internet
Pornography Exposure for Youth
Chiara Sabina, Ph.D.,
1
Janis Wolak, J.D.,
2
and David Finkelhor, Ph.D.
2
Abstract
We examined exposure to Internet pornography before the age of 18, as reported by college students (n563),
via an online survey. Ninety-three percent of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to online pornography dur-
ing adolescence. Exposure prior to age 13 was relatively uncommon. Boys were more likely to be exposed at
an earlier age, to see more images, to see more extreme images (e.g., rape, child pornography), and to view
pornography more often, while girls reported more involuntary exposure. If participants in this study are typ-
ical of young people, exposure to pornography on the Internet can be described as a normative experience, and
more study of its impact is clearly warranted.
1
Introduction
S
UBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF
youth Internet users are exposed
to online pornography.
1,2
Despite extensive worry about
the potential impact, there is still little research on this topic.
The current study used an online survey to question a con-
venience sample of college students about experiences with
online pornography before age 18. Due to known differences
between boys and girls with regard to pornography, we com-
pared genders.
Method
We asked professors at a New England public university
to recruit undergraduates to participate in an online survey
regarding exposure to online pornography. As an incentive,
participants could enter a raffle for one of ten $100 checks.
We gathered 594 responses; 12% of 4,992 students in the
classes of 48 professors who voluntarily participated. The fi-
nal sample totaled 563, of which 34% (n192) was male, the
median age was 19, 93.4% identified as white, and 72% as
freshmen or sophomores.
We asked participants about (a) demographics; (b) age of
first exposure to online pornography, if any; (c) consump-
tion of 10 particular types of images; (d) reasons for view-
ing; and (e) whether they had seen online pornography be-
fore age 18 that had a strong effect on their attitudes or emo-
tions. Responses were anonymous, and raffle entry occurred
on another Web site. Data collection took place during Spring
semester 2006.
Results
Overall, 72.8% of participants (93.2% of boys, 62.1% of
girls, p0.001) had seen online pornography before age 18.
(See Table 1.) Most exposure began when youth were ages
14 to 17, and boys were significantly more likely to view on-
line pornography more often and to view more types of im-
ages. Considerable numbers of boys and girls had seen im-
ages of paraphilic or criminal sexual activity, including child
pornography and sexual violence, at least once before the
age of 18. Girls were significantly more likely than boys
(42.3% of girls; 6.8% of boys, p0.001) to report never look-
ing for pornography on purpose, indicating they were in-
voluntarily exposed.
A small minority of participants, 12.0% of boys (n20)
and 18.7% of girls (n37), said they had viewed online
pornography before the age of 18 that had a strong effect on
their attitudes or emotions (not shown in table). Asked about
these strong reactions, boys were significantly more likely to
report feeling sexual excitement (80% of boys, 27% of girls),
while girls reported significantly more embarrassment (73%
1
Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania.
2
Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire.
CV169
T
ABLE
1. C
HARACTERISTICS OF
E
XPOSURE TO
I
NTERNET
P
ORNOGRAPHY BEFORE
A
GE
18
Boys Girls
n192 n371
Exposure to Internet pornography
Yes, before 18** 93.2% 62.1%
Yes, after 18*** 4.2 20.6
Never*** 2.6 17.3
Exposure to Internet pornography before age 18 n179 n226
Age at first exposure
8 0.6% 0.0%
9 0.6 0.0
10 0.6 0.5
11 1.7 1.0
12 10.9 7.7
13 16.0 15.3
14* 21.1 12.4
15 22.9 22.5
16** 20.0 33.0
17 5.7 7.7
Mean at first exposure** 14.3 14.8
Number of times spent viewing for more than 30 minutes
Never*** 30.6% 76.8%
Once 6.9 9.1
Up to 10 times*** 27.8 11.4
More than 10 times*** 34.8 2.7
Mean number of times spent viewing for more than 30 minutes
a
*** 9.8 1.0
Reasons for viewing Internet pornography
Wanted the sexual excitement*** 69.3% 16.8%
Curious about different things people do sexually*** 53.1 26.1
Wanted information about sex*** 39.7 19.5
With friends who wanted to do it** 34.1 20.8
Never looked for pornography on purpose
b
*** 6.8 42.3
Types of images seen at least once
Naked people but no sexual activity*** 98.3% 88.9%
Mixed-sex intercourse*** 93.8 73.5
Naked people showing genitals** 91.1 81.0
Sexual activity among more than 2 people*** 83.2 57.1
Same-sex intercourse** 69.3 55.3
Sexual activity involving bondage*** 38.6 22.6
Sexual activity between people and animals*** 31.8 17.7
Sexual activity involving urine or feces 21.8 16.4
Rape or sexual violence* 17.9 10.2
Sexual pictures of children 15.1 8.9
Mean number of times seen images
c
Naked people but no sexual activity*** 18.0 6.4
Naked people showing genitals*** 16.5 5.3
Mixed-sex intercourse*** 16.7 4.5
Sexual activity among more than 2 people*** 12.5 3.2
Same-sex intercourse*** 11.1 3.3
Sexual activity involving bondage*** 3.2 0.9
Sexual activity between people and animals** 1.6 0.6
Sexual activity involving urine or feces** 1.5 0.5
Rape or sexual violence** 1.1 0.3
Sexual pictures of children* 0.9 0.3
TOTAL*** 82.8 24.1
a
Response choices were none, 1, 2–5 times, 6–10 times, 11–20 times, and more than 20 times. Each category was then recoded to its midpoint
for number of times participant viewed pornography for 30 minutes or more (i.e., 0, 1, 3.5, 8, 15.5, and 25.5).
b
To be coded as never looking for pornography on purpose, participants must have endorsed this item and indicated no other reason for
looking at Internet pornography.
c
Response choices were never, 1–5 times, 6–10 times, 11–20 times, 21–30 times, and more than 30 times. Each category was then recoded to
its midpoint for number of images seen (i.e., 0, 3, 8, 15.5, 25.5, and 35.5).
*p0.05; **p0.01; ***p0.001.
of girls, 25% of boys) and disgust (51% of girls, 20% of boys).
Over two-thirds of both boys and girls with strong effect ex-
periences described feeling shock or surprise (65% of boys,
78% of girls). Half of boys and about one-third of girls (32%)
felt guilt or shame. About equal numbers of boys and girls
said that as a result of the encounter they were less eager to
seek sexual activity (20% of boys, 22% of girls with strong
effect experiences), had unwanted thoughts about the expe-
rience (25% of girls, 24% of boys), or felt unattractive or in-
adequate (15% of boys, 19% of girls).
Discussion
The young people in our sample had a considerable
amount of exposure to Internet pornography during their
teenage years. Nonetheless, we found considerable diversity
in the extent of and reactions to exposure to online pornog-
raphy. While many youth sought pornography, some were
exposed involuntarily. Some wanted sexual stimulation,
while others wanted information. Some accessed pornogra-
phy frequently, others rarely. Most say online pornography
did not have a strong effect on them, but some were strongly
affected. Among those, some had mostly positive feelings,
while others experienced guilt, embarrassment, and disgust.
The degree of exposure to paraphilic and deviant sexual
activity before age 18 is of particular concern. In the case of
child pornography, the viewing itself was probably a crim-
inal act.
3
Some boys had repeated exposure to pictures of
sexual violence, raising concerns about established connec-
tions between pornography and sexual aggression among
young men with aggressive tendencies.
4
On the question of the effects of pornography on adoles-
cents, few youth reported strong effects. Boys reported more
sexual excitement and girls more embarrassment and disgust.
However, responses were diverse. Some girls felt sexual ex-
citement, and some boys were embarrassed or disgusted. Girls
and boys both reported shock, surprise, guilt, shame, and un-
wanted thoughts about the experience. There was diversity
both between and within genders, suggesting that relying on
gender stereotypes about reactions to online pornography can
obscure the full picture of how youth respond.
While this study provides noteworthy findings, general-
izations cannot be made from this convenience sample,
which includes retrospective reports from students at one
public university with a largely homogenous student body.
For a topic of considerable public policy interest, the im-
pact of Internet pornography exposure on young people has
been subjected to little social scientific research. However, it
is important for young people, as well as for public-policy
decision makers, that we have basic facts about this issue.
This study illustrates one model of how such facts can be ob-
tained. We hope that success of these efforts will encourage
others to seek empirical evidence to guide policy on the con-
troversial issues that this topic engenders.
Disclosure Statement
The authors have no conflict of interest.
References
1. Finkelhor D, Mitchell KJ, Wolak J. (2000) Online victimiza-
tion: a report on the nation’s youth. Washington, DC: Na-
tional Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
2. Wolak J, Mitchell KJ, Finkelhor D. Unwanted and wanted ex-
posure to online pornography in a national sample of youth
Internet users. Pediatrics 2007; 119:247–57.
3. Klain EJ, Davies HJ, Hicks MA. (2001) Child pornography: the
criminal-justice-system response. Washington DC: American
Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.
4. Allen M, D’Alessio D, Brezgel K. A meta-analysis summa-
rizing the effects of pornography II: aggression after expo-
sure. Human Communication Research 1995; 22:258–83.
Address reprint requests to:
Dr. Chiara Sabina
Penn State Harrisburg
School of Behavioral Sciences and Education
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Olmsted Building W-311
Middletown, PA 17075
E-mail: sabina@psu.edu
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  • Apr 2024
Most debates around the place of porn in the classroom focus on abstaining from porn through sex education. Any inclusion of pleasure often entails lengthy consideration of discourses of pornification and sexualization more broadly. In this study, I aimed to elicit young people's and teachers' views, concerns and suggestions about the place of porn, and pleasure more broadly, in sex education. I present a thematic content analysis of small friendship group interviews with 106 young people aged 12-16, who self-identified as boys or girls, and semi-structured interviews with six teachers in New Zealand. I argue that by politicizing age, we continue to view young people as an at risk population. In doing so, we miss the nuance of young people's engagements with porn and pleasure, which denies scope to understand the role of porn in young people's lives. This is a missed opportunity to interrogate and understand porn as a resource through which young people construct and express their sexual subjectivities and social roles.
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Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2007
  • Pediatrics
The goal was to assess the extent of unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography among youth Internet users and associated risk factors. A telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 1500 youth Internet users aged 10 to 17 years was conducted between March and June 2005. Forty-two percent of youth Internet users had been exposed to online pornography in the past year. Of those, 66% reported only unwanted exposure. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to compare youth with unwanted exposure only or any wanted exposure with those with no exposure. Unwanted exposure was related to only 1 Internet activity, namely, using file-sharing programs to download images. Filtering and blocking software reduced the risk of unwanted exposure, as did attending an Internet safety presentation by law enforcement personnel. Unwanted exposure rates were higher for teens, youth who reported being harassed or sexually solicited online or interpersonally victimized offline, and youth who scored in the borderline or clinically significant range on the Child Behavior Checklist subscale for depression. Wanted exposure rates were higher for teens, boys, and youth who used file-sharing programs to download images, talked online to unknown persons about sex, used the Internet at friends' homes, or scored in the borderline or clinically significant range on the Child Behavior Checklist subscale for rule-breaking. Depression also could be a risk factor for some youth. Youth who used filtering and blocking software had lower odds of wanted exposure. More research concerning the potential impact of Internet pornography on youth is warranted, given the high rate of exposure, the fact that much exposure is unwanted, and the fact that youth with certain vulnerabilities, such as depression, interpersonal victimization, and delinquent tendencies, have more exposure.
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A Meta-Analysis Summarizing the Effects of Pornography II Aggression After Exposure
Article
  • Dec 1995
  • HUM COMMUN RES
This meta-analytic review examines the effect that exposure to pornography produces on aggressive behavior under laboratory conditions considering a variety of possible moderating conditions (level of sexual arousal, level of prior anger, type of pornography, gender of subject, gender of the target of aggression, and medium used to convey the material). The summary demonstrates a homogeneous set of results showing that pictorial nudity reduces subsequent aggressive behavior, that consumption of material depicting nonviolent sexual activity increases aggressive behavior, and that media depictions of violent sexual activity generates more aggression than those of nonviolent sexual activity. No other moderator variable produced homogeneous findings. The implications of the results for theoretical approaches to understanding the impact of pornography receives discussion, as do the limitations of such findings.
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