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Self-Perceived Effects of Pornography Consumption Among Heterosexual Men

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Abstract

Pornography has been identified as playing an increasingly important role in the sexual socialization of men. However, relatively little attention has been paid to men’s perceptions of their own pornography consumption. This study investigated self-perceived effects of pornography consumption among an online sample of heterosexual men (N = 312). The study used a short form version of the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale (PCES–SF). The PCES–SF measures both self-perceived positive and negative effects of pornography consumption across the domains of sex life, attitudes toward sex, life in general, perceptions and attitudes toward the opposite gender, and sexual knowledge. Level of pornography use (measured in terms of frequency of use and average length of use) was positively predictive of both self-perceived positive and negative effects of pornography consumption. Those who indicated that they had never been regular users of pornography reported more negative effects than regular users. Older participants reported fewer negative effects than younger participants, even after controlling for level of pornography use. However, the relationship between age and perceived positive effects was nonsignificant. Religiosity was positively predictive of perceived negative effects, but unrelated to actual level of use. Overall, the sample perceived pornography to have a significantly greater positive than negative effect on their lives. This research is part of a growing body of literature that suggests that most men consider pornography to have a positive impact on their sexual self-schema and lives more generally.
Running head: SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Self-Perceived Effects of Pornography Consumption Among Heterosexual Men
Manuscript prepared for Psychology of Men and Masculinity
Dan J. Miller
James Cook University
Gert Martin Hald
University of Copenhagen
Garry Kidd
James Cook University
©American Psychological Association, 2017. This paper is not the copy of record and
may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal.
Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available,
upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/men0000112
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Abstract
Pornography has been identified as playing an increasingly important role in the sexual
socialization of men. However, relatively little attention has been paid to men’s perceptions
of their own pornography consumption. This study investigated self-perceived effects of
pornography consumption among an online sample of heterosexual men (N = 312). The study
employed a short form version of the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale (PCES-SF).
The PCES-SF measures both self-perceived positive and negative effects of pornography
consumption across the domains of sex life, attitudes toward sex, life in general, perceptions
and attitudes toward the opposite gender, and sexual knowledge. Level of pornography use
(measured in terms of frequency of use and average length of use) was positively predictive
of both self-perceived positive and negative effects of pornography consumption. Those who
indicated that they had never been regular users of pornography reported more negative
effects than regular users. Older participants reported fewer negative effects than younger
participants, even after controlling for level of pornography use. However, the relationship
between age and perceived positive effects was non-significant. Religiosity was positively
predictive of perceived negative effects, but unrelated to actual level of use. Overall, the
sample perceived pornography to have a significantly greater positive than negative effect on
their lives. This research is part of a growing body of literature which suggests that most men
consider pornography to have a positive impact on their sexual self-schema and lives more
generally.
Keywords: Pornography; Sexual Explicit Media; Heterosexual Men; Self-Perceived Effects
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SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Introduction
Two of the most consistent findings within the pornography research literature are the
observations that men consume pornography more frequently than women and that
consumption of pornography among men is commonplace (see Hald, Seaman, & Linz, 2014).
As a result, pornography is seen as playing an increasingly important role in the sex lives and
sexual socialization of men (see Wright & Bae, 2016). Pornography consumption has been
found to influence men’s sexuality across a range of domains, including body image
dissatisfaction (Tylka, 2015), permissiveness toward casual sex (Brown & L’Engle, 2009;
Peter & Valkenburg, 2010), engagement in condomless sex (Wright, Tokunaga, & Kraus,
2016b), preferences regarding the sexual practices depicted in pornography (Morgan, 2011),
sexual aggression (Wright, Tokunaga, & Kraus, 2016a), and sexual objectification of women
(Mikorski & Syzmanski, 2016).
Brooks (1995) uses the term the “centerfold syndrome” to describe the way in which
objectifying media portrayals of females (such as pornography) socialize men to endorse
certain beliefs about masculinity and thereby influence men’s sexual self-schemas (see also
Elder, Brooks, & Morrow, 2012). For example, believing that masculinity is confirmed
through sexual conquest, that it is natural for men to reduce women to sexual objects, or that
recreational, non-relational sex is desirable. Brooks maintains that this distorted view of
masculinity then adversely affects men’s sex lives and relationships. Although the centerfold
syndrome stems from Brooks’s clinical and qualitative work, Wright (2012) provides an
overview of empirical studies in support of the centerfold syndrome (see also Wright &
Tokunaga, 2015).
The deleterious impact of pornography on men’s sexual self-schemas and subsequent
behavior has received considerable academic attention, which Attwood (2011) describes as
the “effects tradition” in pornography research. However, relatively little attention has been
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paid to studying the effects of pornography consumption from the perspective of pornography
consumers themselves (Attwood, 2011), that is to say, the self-perceived effects of
pornography consumption.
Hald and Malamuth (2008) were the first to employ a multifaceted measure of self-
perceived effects of pornography use, the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale (PCES).
Using a representative sample of 688 Danish young adults, the authors found that consumers
perceived pornography to have had a significantly greater positive than negative effect across
all the domains of the PCES (sexual knowledge, perceptions and attitudes toward the
opposite gender, attitudes toward sex, sex life, and life in general). These findings were
partially collaborated by Mulya and Hald (2014) with a sample of 249 Indonesian university
students. Consistent with Hald and Malamuth (2008), male participants perceived their
pornography consumption to have had a greater positive than negative effect on their sex
lives and perceptions and attitudes toward women. However, in contrast to Hald and
Malamuth (2008), the men sampled reported that pornography had had a greater negative
than positive effect on their attitudes toward sex (Mulya & Hald, 2014). Using a large
representative sample of Australian adults, Rissel et al. (2017) found that over 80% of their
sample reported that their consumption of pornography had not had a “bad effect on them”
(p. 229). In a different study of Australian pornography users 58% of participants reported
that pornography had had a positive effect on their attitudes toward sexuality (McKee, 2007).
Only 7% of this sample reported that pornography had negatively influenced their attitudes
toward sexuality. Kvalem, Træen, Lewin, and Štulhofer (2014) measured self-perceived
effects of pornography among a sample of Norwegian and Swedish adults and found that
participants generally also reported pornography to have an overall positive effect on their
lives.
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Self-perceived effects of pornography have also been studied among non-exclusively
heterosexual men. Using samples of US and Norwegian men who have sex with men (MSM)
it was found that over 90% of the men sampled (97% and 93% respectively) felt that
pornography had had a positive effect on their enjoyment of sex, sexual knowledge, attitudes
toward sex and sexual orientation (Hald, Smolenski & Rosser, 2013; Hald et al., 2015). These
results are supported by a recent qualitative study into pornography use among 35 young men
with non-exclusive sexual orientations (McCormack & Wignall, 2016). Here participants
described pornography’s impact on their lives in largely positive terms, describing viewing
pornography as a form of leisure activity and as an effective method for exploring sexual
identity. Consequently, the authors argue that researchers need to move beyond the “negative
effects paradigm” (p. 3) and also consider potential positive effects of pornography if they
wish to have a full understanding of the impact of pornography on men’s sexual self-
schemas.
The studies outlined above have identified a number of pornography related variables
that are predictive of self-perceived effects of pornography consumption, including level of
pornography use (Hald & Malamuth, 2008; Hald et al., 2013; Hald et al., 2015; Mulya &
Hald, 2014), perceived realism of pornography (Hald & Malamuth, 2008; Mulya & Hald,
2014), and age at first use of pornography (Hald et al., 2015). A number of demographic
variables have also been identified as being predictive of self-perceived effect of pornography
consumption, including religion and age (Rissel et al., 2017), and ethnicity and education
(Hald et al., 2013).
As can be seen from the above literature review, only five studies have quantitatively
assessed self-perceived effects of pornography consumption among self-reported
heterosexual men. One of these studies was conducted in Indonesia, a religious, sexually
conservative nation in which pornography is illegal (Mulya & Hald, 2014). Two were
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conducted using samples of Scandinavians. Denmark, Sweden and Norway are all sexually
liberal nations with a relaxed attitude toward pornography (Denmark was in fact the first
nation to legalise the sale of pornography; Hald, 2006). In the two remaining studies single-
item measures of self-perceived effects of pornography were employed: “What effects has
pornography had on your attitudes towards sexuality?” (McKee, 2007, p. 90) and “You feel
using porn has a bad effect on you” (Rissel et al., 2017, p. 229).
The present study seeks to remedy these limitations by assessing self-perceived
effects of pornography consumption among a sample of self-reported heterosexual men from
a range of nations—primarily Australia, the US and Singapore (all of which would be
expected to fall between Indonesia and Scandinavia in terms of acceptance of pornography)
—using a validated, multi-item form of the PCES (REFERENCE BLINDED FOR
REVIEW). Further, this study seeks to assess the degree to which pornography related
variables (regular pornography consumption, level of pornography consumption, age at first
use of pornography, and, if applicable, age at start of regular use) and a range of demographic
variables (age, education, country of residence, relationship status, and religiosity) are
predictive of both positive and negative self-perceived effects of pornography consumption.
This is the first time that the predictive power of many of these variables has been assessed in
terms of both positive and negative effects of pornography use (rather than pornography’s
overall “net effect”) among a sample of heterosexual men.
The following hypothesis and research questions were tested as part of the present
study:
Hypothesis 1: Consistent with previous research, the sample will report pornography
to have a greater overall positive than negative effect on their lives.
Research Question 1: Which demographic and pornography use variables are
predictive of self-perceived positive effects of pornography?
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Research Question 2: Which demographic and pornography use variables are
predictive of self-perceived negative effects of pornography?
Method
Participants
The final sample consisted of 312 self-identified heterosexual men, who had had
previous experience with pornography. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 73 years (M =
27.80, SD = 10.71). The sample comprised community members (58.7%) and students
participating for course credit (41.3%). The majority of the sample originated from three
countries: Australia (41.7%), the US (26.9%) and Singapore (17.6%), with the rest coming
primarily from Canada, the UK, and other European nations. Demographic characteristics of
the sample are presented in Table 1.
Measures
Demographics. The demographic variables assessed in the survey included age (in
years), country of residence, highest level of formal education (no university study; some
undergraduate study; undergraduate degree; some postgraduate study or postgraduate
degree), relationship status (in a relationship and cohabiting; in a relationship but not
cohabiting; not in a relationship) and sexual orientation (heterosexual; gay; bisexual; other).
Religiosity was measured with a single Likert-type item, “I am religious,” with response
options ranging from 1 = extremely inaccurate to 9 = extremely accurate.
Pornography use. The prevalence of pornography consumption was assessed with
three yes or no items: “Have you ever watched pornography?,” “Have you watched
pornography in the last six months?,” and “At any point have you been a regular viewer of
pornography?” Regular viewing was defined for participants as “Viewing pornography at
least once per month, over a six-month period.”
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Frequency of pornography use over the last six months was measured with a Likert-
type item ranging from 1 = less than monthly to 8 = more than once a day. Average
pornography viewing session length was assessed via a Likert-type item anchored by 1 = less
than 5 minutes and 6 = greater than 60 minutes. An index of level of pornography
consumption over the last six months was created by z-standardizing and then averaging
these two items. Participants were also asked about the age at which they first viewed
pornography (including accidental exposure) and the age at which they first started to
regularly view pornography.
Self-perceived effects of pornography consumption. A validated short form version
of Hald and Malamuth’s (2008) PCES (PCES-SF; REFERENCE BLINDED FOR REVIEW)
was used to measure the self-perceived effects of pornography consumption. The PCES-SF
consists of 14 Likert-type items (see Appendix for items). All items use a seven point scale (1
= not at all, 2 = to a very small extent, 3 = to a small extent, 4 = to a moderate extent, 5 = to
a large extent, 6 = to a very large extent, and 7 = to an extremely large extent).
Items are arranged along a positive effect dimension (PED) and a negative effect
dimension (NED). Like the PCES, the PCES-SF measures self-perceived effects of
pornography use across the content domains of sex life (two positive and two negative items),
attitudes toward sex (two positive and two negative items), life in general (one positive and
one negative item), perceptions and attitudes toward the opposite gender (one positive and
one negative item), and sexual knowledge (two positive items). In the current study, both the
PED and NED had Cronbach alpha coefficients of .91. Spearman-Brown coefficients for the
two item subscales ranged from .79 to .86 (for two-item scales, the Spearman-Brown
coefficient may be a more appropriate measure of reliability than Cronbach’s alpha; Eisinga,
Grotenhuis, & Pelzer, 2013).
Procedure
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Data for this study were taken from a larger online survey into the effects of
pornography use. Participation in the study was limited to adult males. For the purposes of
this paper, the final sample was limited to those who self-identified as heterosexual and had
previously viewed pornography (as PCES-SF items would not be applicable to those who had
never viewed pornography).1 Students from (BLINDED FOR REVIEW) were recruited in
exchange for course credit. Other participants were offered the chance to go into a prize-draw
(for a $50 gift voucher) in exchange for their participation. As an incentive was offered, data
were checked for duplicate responses. Community participants were recruited through
websites which host psychological studies (e.g., callforparticipants.com, lehmiller.com,
socialpsychology.org, facebook.com/psychologyparticipantsresearchers). Participation in the
study was anonymous and took approximately 30 minutes. Ethical approval to conduct the
study was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee of [name of institution
withheld for blind review].
Results
Pornography Consumption Among Sample
Nearly the entire sample (94.2 %) had viewed pornography in the last six months.
Additionally, 82.4% indicated that they currently were regular users of pornography, or had
been at some point. Median response for frequency of use over the last six months was 3–4
times per week. Median response for average session length was 15–30 minutes. Average age
at first use was 12.91 years (SD = 2.80), and average age at start of regular use was 16.69
years (SD = 3.99).
Hypothesis 1
1 322 self-identified heterosexual men completed the survey. Ten (3.1%) participants were excluded on the basis
of never having viewed pornography, leaving a final N of 312. An “ever viewed pornography” prevalence rate
of greater than 90% for men is consistent with past research (e.g., Kvalem et al., 2014; Morgan, 2011; Sun,
Miezan, Lee, & Shim, 2014; Træen & Daneback, 2013).
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The sample had a mean positive effect dimension (PED) score of 3.19 (SD = 1.42), indicating
a small to moderate positive effect based on scale response options, and a mean negative
effect dimension (NED) score of 1.83 (SD = 1.33), indicating no negative effect to a very
small negative effect. A paired samples t test was used to compare PED scores to NED
scores. A significant and large difference was detected, t(311) = 14.23, p < .001, Cohens’s d =
0.99, indicating that participants perceived that pornography consumption had a significantly
greater positive than negative effect on their lives. This finding was consistent across all of
the domains measured by the PCES-SF (see Table 2). Hypothesis 1 was therefore supported.
Research Questions 1 and 2
To investigate Research Questions 1 and 2, correlation analyses were performed on
continuous study variables (i.e., PED, NED, age, age at first use of pornography, age at start
of regular use of pornography, level of pornography use, and religiosity). Furthermore, PED
and NED scores were also compared for categorical study variables (i.e., country of
residence, relationship status, highest level of formal education, and whether the individual
had ever been a regular user of pornography) using ANOVAs and independent samples t
tests.
Correlation coefficients are presented in Table 3. As can be seen, a significant
positive relationship was detected between PED and NED. PED was also positively
associated with pornography use, but negatively related to age at first use of pornography.
NED had a positive association with religiosity and a negative association with age.
Table 4 reports the results of the tests comparing NED and PED by categorical study
variables. No significant differences in PED scores were detected for any of the categorical
variables assessed. Those who indicated that they had never been regular viewers of
pornography reported significantly greater NED scores than those who had. Furthermore, the
omnibus F test comparing NED scores by relationship groups (in relationship, cohabiting; in
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relationship, not cohabiting; and not in relationship) was also significant. However,
Bonferroni corrected pairwise comparisons did not reveal any significant differences between
relationship groups. It should be noted that the effect size associated with the omnibus test
here was small.
Multiple regression analysis was then conducted to assess whether the three variables
that significantly correlated with PED in the initial analysis (NED, age at first use of
pornography, and level of pornography use) would continue to have a significant association
with PED after taking into account these predictors’ shared variance. In order to do this, the
three predictor variables were simultaneously entered into the regression model. Level of
pornography use was the only predictor that was found to make a statistically significant,
unique contribution to the model. In total the model accounted for 10% of the variance in
self-perceived positive effects (R = .32, adjusted R2 = .09, p < .001). Regression weights are
reported in Table 5.
Following the same logic underpinning the above multiple regression analysis, PED,
age, religiosity, and regular pornography use were entered into a regression model predicting
NED. Level of pornography use (which was not found to significantly correlate with NED in
the correlational analyses) was also entered into the model as it was thought that the positive
relationship between PED and NED observed in the correlational analyses may be the result
of shared variance between PED, NED and level of pornography use. As in the previous
regression analysis, the five predictors were entered into the model simultaneously. Age,
religiosity, regular pornography use, and level of pornography use were all found to make a
statistically significant unique contribution to the model. PED was not statistically significant
in the model. In total the model accounted for 21% of the variance in the self-perceived
negative effects of pornography use (R = .46, adjusted R2 = .19, p < .001; see Table 5).
Discussion
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As expected (see Hypothesis 1), the sample reported that pornography had had a
greater positive than negative impact on their lives. This finding is consistent with existing
research into self-perceived effects of pornography use among heterosexual men (Hald &
Malamuth, 2008; Kvalem et al., 2014; Mulya & Hald, 2014; Rissel et al., 2017) and MSM
(Hald et al., 2013; Hald et al., 2015). Conceivably, this finding could be explained by
cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957), whereby participants may underreport
negative effects of their pornography consumption in an attempt to reduce dissonance
between their beliefs (e.g., believing that pornography consumption adversely impacts one’s
life) and behaviors (e.g., frequently using pornography). Nonetheless, it is also possible—and
perhaps even likely given the cross-study consistency of this finding—that participants’
reports are accurate and that most men really do believe that pornography has a greater
positive than negative impact on the lives.
Past qualitative research can provide clues as to the ways in which pornography may
positively influence men’s sexual self-schemas. As discussed above, in the in-depth
interviews conducted by McCormack and Wignall (2016) participants frequently described
the consumption of pornography as a pleasurable recreational activity and an important
source of knowledge about sexual desires and identity (although it should be acknowledged
that unlike the current study, McCormack and Wignall targeted young men with non-
exclusive sexual orientations). McKee (2007) included open-ended questions assessing the
self-perceived effect of pornography in his survey of Australian pornography consumers. In
this study participants frequently reported that pornography made them feel less repressed,
more open-minded, and more tolerant about sex. Participants also frequently reported that
they found pornography to be pleasurable and educational. In support of this, in the current
study the highest mean subscale scores were observed for Sexual Knowledge (Positive), Sex
Life (Positive), and Attitudes Toward Sex (Positive).
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It should be noted that the findings of the study, and other similar studies, regarding
the self-perceived positive effect of pornography do not necessarily invalidate any of the
existing research into pornography’s impact on men’s sexual self-schemas and behaviors. For
example, it may be that pornography impacts men’s desire to engage in recreational sex or
assert their masculinity through sexual conquest in a way consistent with Brooks’s (1995)
centerfold syndrome. It may just be the case that most men do not find such desires negative
or upsetting (even if such desires still have a negative impact on the lives of women), or if
they do, this negative effect is outweighed by pornography’s positive effect on their sex lives.
Indeed, mean NED subscale scores all fell close to two (“a very small negative effect”)
indicating that many men still perceive pornography to have some negative effect on them.
It is noteworthy that participants did not report more negative effects in regard to
pornography’s impact on their sex lives given a recent meta-analysis of studies assessing the
association between pornography consumption and sexual and relationship satisfaction
(Wright, Tokunaga, Kraus, & Klann, 2017). This meta-analysis found small but significant
overall negative associations between pornography consumption and both sexual and
relationship satisfaction. Kohut, Fisher, and Campbell (2017) have however heavily criticized
much of the empirical literature used in this meta-analysis for its harm-focused orientation
and assumption of direction of causality (see also Campbell & Kohut, 2017). Accordingly,
these authors conducted their own qualitative investigation into pornography’s impact on
men and women’s relationships. They found that participants reported positive effects much
more frequently than negative effects. Interestingly, the most commonly reported negative
effect was that pornography created unrealistic expectations of sex, in relation to what is
expected of both females (e.g., willingness to engage in, and enjoyment of, certain sexual
practices) and males (e.g., muscularity, penis size, erection quality, sexual stamina). This and
related research (e.g., Tylka, 2016) suggests that pornography can impact men’s (or at least
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some men’s) masculine ideals and sexual relationship expectations, creating an incongruence
between what is expected of sexual relationships and what actually occurs within these
relationships. For some men, this may adversely impact relationship satisfaction.
The hierarchical confluence model (HCM) of sexual aggression posits that the effect
of pornography on sexual aggression is stronger among those who are already high on risk
factors for sexual aggression (e.g., hostile masculinity, narcissism) and less pronounced, or
non-existent, among those who are low on such risk factors (see Hald et al., 2014; Kingston,
Malamuth, Fedoroff, & Marshall, 2009). Empirical evidence supports the HCM in relation to
pornography’s impact on sexual aggression (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Malamuth, Hald, &
Koss, 2013). Furthermore, the HCM has been successfully extended in regard to
pornography’s impact on sexism more generally (Hald, Malamuth, & Lange, 2013). The
basic premise of the HCM could be further extended to understand pornography’s effect on
men’s relational and sexual self-schemas. That is to say, pornography may have a more
pronounced effect on the masculine ideals (and by extension relationship satisfaction) of men
who are already at risk for having unrealistic expectations of sexual relationships (e.g.,
teenagers with little real-world sexual experience). Interestingly, and in line with this theory,
in the current study older participants reported fewer self-perceived negative effects than
younger participants, even after controlling for level of pornography use (this finding is
mirrored in Rissel et al., 2016). By virtue of having more real-world experience with sexual
relationships, older men may be better able to recognize that pornography does not provide
an accurate picture of sexual relationships. Thus, pornography may be less likely to have a
direct influence on older men’s masculine ideals and by extension less likely to negatively
impact the lives of older men.
Consistent with the idea that pornography can simultaneously negatively and
positively impacts men’s lives, the results of the regression analysis indicated that increased
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pornography use was associated with more overall positive effects and more overall negative
effects. These findings underpin the importance of researchers considering both
pornography’s positive and negative impact and highlight the need for scales which enable
the simultaneous measurement of positive and negative effects, in contrast to the single-item,
net-effect measures employed by some past studies (e.g., McKee, 2007; Rissel et al. 2016).
Interestingly, having never been a regular user of pornography was also associated
with more perceived negative effects. This finding seems somewhat at odds with the
observed positive relationship between level of pornography use and perceived negative
effects. However, it may simply reflect the possibility that there is a segment of the
population who feel that pornography adversely impacts them and thus not use it frequently.
PED and NED scores were not found to differ by country. Furthermore, the results of
the current study largely mirror those of previous studies conducted in sexually liberal
Scandinavian (Hald & Malamuth, 2008; Kvalem et al., 2014) and sexually conservative
Indonesia (Mulya & Hald, 2014), suggesting that level of national acceptance of pornography
does not have a major impact on self-perceived effects of pornography.
Finally, religious participants did not report using pornography any more or less
frequently than their non-religious counterparts. However, they were more likely to feel that
their pornography use has a negative impact on their lives. These findings are consistent with
those of a recent study of US students (Grubbs, Exline, Pargament, Hook, & Carlisle, 2015)
which found religiosity to be predictive of perceived addiction to pornography, but unrelated
to level of pornography use. This relationship may be the result of religious participants’
feelings of guilt for acting at odds with their religious or cultural values by consuming
pornography. However, this cannot be determined with certainty as the survey did not contain
any items directly measuring pornography-related religious guilt. Similarly, the finding may
reflect the fact that pornography use has shaped these participants’ sense of masculinity in a
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way that is incompatible with the tenets of their religion (e.g., believing that masculinity is
confirmed through sexual conquest with multiple partners).
The study has a number of limitations. First, the study utilised a non-probability
sample. Therefore, we should be somewhat cautious when generalizing study findings to the
wider population. This being said, the findings of the current study are congruent with
existing research based on large representative samples (Hald & Malamuth, 2008; Rissel et
al., 2016), suggesting that the findings are not simply the result of sampling biases. Finally, as
discussed above, the study relies on self-report measures. Thus, cognitive biases (such as the
tendency to reduce cognitive dissonance) may have shaded results. These issues aside, it does
appear that pornography has a significant impact (both positive and negative) on men’s
sexual self-schemas and lives more generally, as judged by male consumers themselves.
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BLINDED FOR PEER REVIEW. (2017). Measuring self-perceived effects of pornography:
A short form version of the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale. Manuscript
submitted for publication.
22
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Table 1
Demographic Characteristics of Final Sample (N = 312)
Variable % M (SD)
Age 27.80 (10.71)
18-24 54.8
25-34 22.1
35-44 11.9
≥45 11.2
Religiositya3.25 (2.50)
Country -
Australia/New Zealand 42.0
Asia 18.9
Europe 7.4
USA 26.9
North America, other 4.2
Other 0.6
Relationship status -
In relationship, cohabiting 31.7
In relationship, not cohabiting 22.1
Not in relationship 46.2
Highest level of formal education -
No university study 23.8
Some undergraduate study 32.2
Undergraduate degree 25.1
Some postgraduate study/degree 19.0
a1–9 scale, with higher scores indicating greater agreement with statement “I am
religious”
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SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Table 2
Mean (SD) Score by PCES-SF Subscale
Subscale Positive effect Negative effect Paired-samples t test
SL 3.19 (1.73) 1.70 (1.22) t(311) = 12.87***, d = 1.00
LG 2.62 (1.73) 1.96 (1.52) t(311) = 5.10***, d = 0.41
ATS 3.07 (1.73) 1.86 (1.28) t(311) = 10.99***, d = 0.80
PATOG 2.72 (1.80) 1.94 (1.43) t(311) = 6.59***, d = 0.48
SK 3.82 (1.67)a
Note. SL = sex life; LG = life in general; ATS = attitudes toward sex; PATOG =
perception of and attitudes toward the opposite gender; SK = sexual knowledge.
aThere is no negative counterpart to the sexual knowledge subscale
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
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SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Table 3
Pearson’s Correlations between Continuous Study Variables
2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Positive effect dimension .16** .07 −.13* .01 .31*** .02
2. Negative effect dimension −.22*** .02 −.12 .08 .31***
3. Age .02 .61*** .16** .06
4. Age first use .41*** −.18** .02
5. Age at start of regular use −.05 .21**
6. Pornography use −.03
7. Religiosity
Note. df = 243-310
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
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SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Table 4
Comparisons of Mean Positive and Negative Effect Dimension Scores for Groups Based on Categorical Study Variables
Variable Positive effect Negative effect
M (SD)Test M (SD)Test
Country F(4, 305) = 1.18, η2 = .03 F(4, 305) = 2.27, η2 = .03
Australia/New Zealand 3.05 (1.42) 1.91 (1.26)
Asia 3.28 (1.38) 2.11 (1.37)
Europe 3.71 (1.43) 1.65 (0.89)
USA 3.18 (1.40) 1.65 (0.94)
North America, other 3.34 (1.60) 1.35 (0.47)
Othera- -
Relationship status F(2, 307) = 0.75, η2 = .01 F(2, 307) = 3.35*, η2 = .02
In relationship, cohabiting 3.28 (1.45) 1.59 (0.93)
In relationship, not cohabiting 3.26 (1.32) 2.00 (1.11)
Not in relationship 3.07 (1.44) 1.92 (1.31)
Highest level of formal education F(3, 307) = 0.79, η2 < .01 F(3, 307) = 0.62, η2 < .01
No university study 2.97 (1.29) 1.90 (1.10)
Some undergraduate study 3.29 (1.43) 1.84 (1.18)
Undergraduate degree 3.24 (1.46) 1.88 (1.26)
Some postgraduate study/degree 3.18 (1.42) 1.65 (1.10)
Ever been a regular user? t(310) = 1.71, d = 0.25 t(65.39) = −4.12***, d = - 0.87b
Yes 3.24 (1.39) 1.61 (0.97)
No 2.89 (1.50) 2.55 (1.48)
aNot tested due to small n; bAssumption of homogeneity of variances violated thus Welch’s t test was used in place of Student’s t test
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
Table 5
Multiple Regression Analysis on Self-Perceived Positive and Negative Effects of
Pornography Consumption
Variable B SE βR2
Positive Effect
Negative effect scores 0.10 0.07 .08 .10
Age first use −0.05 0.03 −.10
Pornography use 0.48*** 0.10 .27
Negative Effect
Positive effect scores 0.08 0.05 .09 .21
Age −0.02*** 0.01 −.21
Religiosity 0.13*** 0.03 .28
Ever been a regular user?a−0.70*** 0.19 −.23
Pornography use 0.25** 0.07 .17
aResponse option “No” used as the reference value
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
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SELF-PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
Appendix
The Short Form Pornography Consumption Effects Scale (PCES-SF)
To what extent do you believe your consumption of pornography:
1. SL (P) Overall, has improved your sex life?
2. LG (N) Has made your life more problematic?
3. PATOG (P) Has made you more respectful towards the opposite gender?
4. SL (N) Overall, has made your sex life worse?
5. ATS (N) Has had a negative influence on your attitudes toward sex?
6. SK (P) Has improved your knowledge of oral sex?
7. LG (P) Has improved your quality of life?
8. ATS (P) Has had a positive influence on your attitudes toward sex?
9. SL (P) Has added something positive to your sex life?
10. PATOG (N) Has led you to view the opposite gender more stereotypically?
11. ATS (N) Has adversely influenced your opinions of sex?
12. SK (P) Has improved your knowledge of sex?
13. ATS (P) Has positively influenced your opinions of sex?
14. SL (N) Has added something negative to your sex life?
Note. SL = sex life; LG = life in general; ATS = attitudes toward sex; PATOG =
perception of and attitudes toward the opposite gender; SK = sexual knowledge. (P)
indicates that the item relates to the positive effect dimension. (N) indicates that the
item relates to the negative effect dimension.
Scale construction is outlined in REFERENCE BLINDED FOR REVIEW. All items
are on a 7 point scale: 1 = not at all; 2 = to a very small extent; 3 = to a small extent; 4 = to a
moderate extent; 5 = to a large extent; 6 = to a very large extent; 7 = to an extremely large
extent. Effect dimension totals and subscale totals are calculated by averaging the items
contributing to the dimension or subscale.
... Due to this normative element of pornography use, it is crucial for scholars to understand behavioral trends and attitudes related to how both individuals and couples decide to engage with sexually explicit content. While a growing amount of scholarship has examined pornography's potential effect on both individuals (Hald & Malamuth, 2008;Miller, Hald, & Kidd, 2018) and on couples (Daneback et al., 2009;Poulsen et al., 2013;Willoughby, Carroll, Busby, & Brown, 2016), less research has sought to explore crucial behavioral patterns that are vital to providing context and nuance to these findings. ...
... Among the most cited issues brought up by scholars are limited one-item measurement (Busby, Willoughby, Chiu, & Olsen, 2020), a lack of measurement for the content being viewed (Willoughby & Dover, 2022), overlooking how masturbation intersects with pornography use (Kohut et al., 2020), and not considering important contextual factors such as how and if couples use pornography together . While previous scholarship has explored specific unique elements of pornography viewing individually, such as dyadic use patterns (Carroll, Busby, Willoughby, & Brown, 2017), the role of pornography genre (Hald et al., 2018) and perceived realism of pornography (Wright, Herbenick, & Paul, 2022), little research has sought to explore many of these factors concurrently to attempt a more comprehensive exploration of pornography viewing habits. Due to this lack of research tying these contextual factors together, scholars still having limited information regarding if pornography viewing patterns are unique or follow similar or dissimilar patterns between people when considering a range of factors regarding how individuals consume sexually explicit material. ...
... As pornography use has become more normative and frequent, scholars have increasingly been interested in the correlates of this use in a variety of contexts. The correlates of pornography have been widely studied and examined by scholars in recent years (Daneback et al., 2009;Hald & Malamuth, 2008;Miller et al., 2018;Poulsen, Busby, & Galovan, 2013;Willoughby et al., 2016). Hald and Malamuth (2008) found that both men and women perceived positive effects of pornography consumption on a variety of factors including their sex life, attitudes toward sex, sexual knowledge, and life in general. ...
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Whether pornography consumption is a reliable correlate of sexually aggressive behavior continues to be debated. Meta-analyses of experimental studies have found effects on aggressive behavior and attitudes. That pornography consumption correlates with aggressive attitudes in naturalistic studies has also been found. Yet, no meta-analysis has addressed the question motivating this body of work: Is pornography consumption correlated with committing actual acts of sexual aggression? 22 studies from 7 different countries were analyzed. Consumption was associated with sexual aggression in the United States and internationally, among males and females, and in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Associations were stronger for verbal than physical sexual aggression, although both were significant. The general pattern of results suggested that violent content may be an exacerbating factor.
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