Pornography and Heterosexual Women’s Intimate Experiences with a Partner (2019)

Introduction

The increased anonymity, accessibility, and affordability of online pornography have made the pornographic sexual script a ubiquitous part of the college sexual landscape.¹ Among college students in the United States, 82.3% of men and 60.4% of women have ever used pornography for sexual purposes.² College age and young adult women in the United States (between 18 and 30 years of age) are twice as likely to use pornography compared to older women.³ While young adult women’s use of pornography has increased in comparison to older female peers, the frequency of use of pornography by women remains low when compared to their male counterparts; just 13.4% of college age women report watching pornographic videos in the previous month compared to 35.3% of college age men.²

Given the high levels of aggression toward women depicted in commercial pornography⁴ and the important role sexual satisfaction plays in women’s emotional and relational well-being,⁵ the increasing role of pornography in sexual exploration and discovery raises important questions about young women’s sexual health and intimate relationships. These questions are especially pertinent to heterosexual women since the overwhelming amount of violence shown in pornography is perpetrated by men against women.^6,7

Research on the relationship between pornography use and women’s sexual health and sexual behavior has largely focused on associative outcomes. Research shows increased pornography exposure is associated with earlier and/or quicker onset of sexual activity, more permissive attitudes toward casual sex, and a higher likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors such as anal sex, sex with multiple partners, and using drugs or alcohol during sex.^8–10 The earlier the exposure, the more pronounced the risk.¹¹ Several meta-analysis projects indicate that pornography use is associated with increased risk of sexual violence and sexual assault,^12–14 as well as with increased adherence to more traditional gender attitudes toward heterosexual relationships among older viewers.¹⁵

Other research focused on the role of pornography in women’s emotional and mental health reveals some contradictions. Some female respondents report pornography use as having a positive influence,^16,17 increasing a sense of sexual liberation, empowerment, and competence and decreasing shame.^18–21 Other women, however, report embarrassment or discomfort viewing pornography,²² negative self-appraisals when comparing themselves to the women in pornography,^23,24 as well as feelings of inadequacy and lower self-esteem.²⁵ Other studies show no relationship between pornography exposure and body dissatisfaction.²⁶

Finally, research on the role of pornography in relationship satisfaction shows pornography viewing to be associated with a decrease in feelings of sexual desirability,^22,27,28 lower relationship quality²⁵ and diminished trust, and increased psychological distress.²⁹ There is a sizable gendered “pornography gap” in terms of how much pornography is consumed between men and women in heterosexual relationships; “there is a consistent pattern of many women being partnered with men who regularly use pornography while they report little or no use.”^30(p153) This “pornography gap” is directly associated with lower relational satisfaction and stability for both partners in the relationship, as well as greater male aggression and lower female desirability.³¹ A recent meta-analysis of both experimental and nonexperimental research on internet pornography confirm the negative associations between internet pornography consumption and women’s sexual satisfaction and quality of intimate relationships.³²

Our research approaches the role of pornography in women’s sexual relationships in a slightly different way. Drawing on sexual scripts theory, specifically Wright’s³³ acquisition, activation, application (₃AM) model, we explore the perceptive role of pornography during dyadic sexual relationships: What role, if any, do pornographic images play in women’s thoughts and feelings during sex with a partner? Wright’s sexual script ₃AM model of sexual socialization aims to provide specificity to the process through which sexual scripts come to frame an individual’s mental or heuristic understanding of what should or should not be happening in the moment. Specifically, we ask, does pornography consumption, particularly frequent use, relate to heterosexual women’s thoughts and feelings during intimate experiences with a partner? Does frequent pornography use relate to the likelihood that women will activate pornographic images in their minds during sex? Does the pornographic script play a role in how women feel about themselves and their bodies during sexual relationships with a partner?

Sexual scripts and the ₃AM model

Focusing on the perceptive role of pornography is rooted in “cognitive scripts” theory, which argues that cultural scripts such as those found in media can provide a heuristic model outlining how people should or should not think, feel, and act in response to what is happening around them.³⁴ Heuristic processing describes the mental processing of information that is quick and done without much deliberation as opposed to systemic processing, which is about deliberation, weighing of fact, and conscious analysis. The concept of a sexual script focuses, in part, on the ways in which cultural scenarios help define what counts as sex, identify sexual situations, and structure expectations, desires, and behaviors during sexual encounters.^35,36 Wright’s³³ sexual script ₃AM model of sexual socialization builds on the concept of a sexual script by incorporating other information processing,³⁴ media,³⁷ and social psychological³⁸ theories to operationalize the mental processes through which sexual scripts come to play a role in sexual attitudes, feelings, and behavior. Wright argues that sexual scripts must be acquired and activated in the mind before they can be applied in sexual situations. Each of these steps—acquisition, activation, and application—may be mediated or moderated by social, cultural, and situational variables as well as by the relevance, prevalence, and vividness of the media. Mediators and moderators include, but are not limited to, race, gender, age, motivations for use, frequency and duration of exposure, script-situation correspondence, and the availability of counter-narratives provided by schools, families, or religious practices. In each phase of the socialization process, the sexual script can increase or decrease in salience depending on the moderating factors. For example, more frequent viewing of media, particularly highly stimulating images, for longer periods of time and with purpose will have higher activation in the minds of particular types of viewers, thus increasing the role that the pornographic script will influence behavior.

Pornography and the ₃AM model

Research applying components of the ₃AM model to pornography reveals the way in which pornography is associated with specific attitudes and behaviors, as well as mediating or moderating variables. In terms of attitudes, longitudinal data show pornography consumption to be associated with increased support for birth control access for teens by shifting perspectives on teenage sex³⁹ as well as an increase in support for abortion access by stimulating more liberal beliefs about sexual behavior.⁴⁰ Pornography viewing has been found to increase more traditional gender attitudes among older viewers, but not younger viewers,¹⁵ and to positively correlate with more permissive attitudes toward extramarital sex regardless of prior attitudes toward extramarital affairs.⁴¹

In terms of behaviors, research has found that more permissive attitudes toward sexual behaviors moderate the relationship between more frequent viewing of pornography and its association with higher incidence of hooking up, a higher number of unique hookup partners, and plans to have more sexual partners in the future.⁴² Rates of pornography viewing are also associated with an increase in the likelihood that both male and female consumers express interest in trying or having had engaged in the type of sexual behavior depicted in the pornographic sexual.⁴³ Pornography viewing is associated with a decrease in the use of condoms among those who agree that pornography is a source of sexual education.⁴⁴ Finally, it is “associated with nearly a sevenfold over time increase in the odds of having engaged in casual sex for unhappy individuals, but was unrelated to the casual sex behavior of very happy individuals.”^45(p67)

While much research has been done exploring the relationships between the acquisition and application of the pornographic script to attitudes and behavior, activation—the cognitive bridging step in the sexual socialization process—needs more attention and clarity to understand the ways in which the pornographic sexual script gets activated in the mind.

Pornography and activation

Early research on the cognitive processing of pornography reveals the way in which frequent viewing shapes perceptions of reality. Peter and Valkenburg^46(p227) found pornography creates “sex-related cognitions in memory” in adolescents such that the more pornography they watch, the more likely they are to believe the material reflects real-world sexual practices. Tsitsika et al.^47(p549) found that among Greek adolescents, exposure to sexually explicit material fosters “unrealistic attitudes about sex and misleading attitudes toward relationships.” Other research has found that pornography use by men is, in part, motivated by the exclusive focus on sexual rewards (i.e., pleasure) without any of the costs (i.e., commitment or disease),⁴⁸ thus diminishing the level of forethought used while viewing.⁴⁹ However, to conceptualize pornography as a heuristic script implies its use in navigating ongoing or immediate situations; in other words, it informs what goes on during sexual encounters with a partner.

In previous research, we explored the role of pornography in heterosexual men’s thinking and perceptions of themselves and their partner during sexual relationships.⁵⁰ We asked if pornography played an active role in their minds during sex as well as how they felt about themselves and their partners during the act of sex. Results showed the more pornography a man watched, the more likely he was to use it during sex, request particular pornographic sex acts of his partner, and deliberately conjure images of pornography during sex to maintain arousal. Pornography viewing was also negatively associated with enjoying sexually intimate behaviors with a partner, but had no relationship with concerns over his own sexual performance and body image. These associations were direct and unmediated. Pornography viewing directly related to an increase in the activation of the pornographic sexual script in the mental perceptions of the situation and of himself, as well as his feelings and attitudes during sexual encounters with a partner.

Purpose and Hypotheses

In this study, we turned our attention to women and asked the same question: does pornography play an active role in women’s minds during sex and how do female consumers feel about themselves and their partners during the act of sex? Given that the content of the sexual script in mainstream commercial pornography is overwhelmingly aggressive toward women,⁴ and the ways in which hypersexualized media diminish girls’ self-esteem and body image,⁵¹ we expected that the impact of pornography activation on women’s subjective sexual experiences would be negative. Our specific hypotheses were that when examined concurrently, higher use of pornography for masturbation would be associated with the following:

Methods

Participants

As part of a larger, multinational study^43,50 our sample included 706 respondents (see Table 1 for demographic information). Inclusion criteria were as follows: residing in the United States, female gender, 18–29 years of age, heterosexual orientation, and having had at least one prior sexual experience. Most participants (85.1%) indicated they attended a public college or university. Most (85.1%) were non-Hispanic white. Average age was 19.82 years (standard deviation [SD] = 1.65). The majority (over 66%) of male and female guardians of these participants had completed a college degree. Forty-one percent reported agreeing or strongly agreeing that religious faith was important to them. We coded relationship status so that all participants reporting being single or in nonmonogamous relationships were considered not to be in committed relationships, whereas participants reporting being in monogamous relationships, married, or cohabiting with a romantic partner were coded as being in committed relationships. Forty-eight percent of participants were in committed relationships and 50.1% were not.

Prior dyadic sexual experiences included at least one of the following activities: being naked with another person, touching another person’s genitals, and engaging in oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex. Most (82.3%) participants included in the study reported having engaged in sexual intercourse. Of the 581 respondents who reported having engaged in intercourse before, 88 had done so before the age of 16, 384 first had sex between 16 and 18 years of age, and the remaining 109 first had sex at 19 years of age or later.

Measures

Pornography use

Pornography use was assessed using the question, (1) on average, how often do you use pornography for masturbation. The item was answered on an 8-point Likert scale (1 = never, 2 = less than once a year, 3 = a few times a year, 4 = once a month, 5 = a few times a month, 6 = 1–2 days a week, 7 = 3–5 days a week, and 8 = daily or almost daily). In addition, we asked respondents their age at first exposure to pornography and the preferred sources of media they used to access pornography.

Thoughts of pornography

Three questions assessed participants’ thoughts about pornography in relation to or during sexual activity with a partner: (1) When I am having sex with a partner, the images from pornography come into my head; (2) When I am having sex with a partner, I intentionally think about images from pornography to maintain my excitement; and (3) Using pornography to masturbate is more exciting than having sex with a partner. Each item was answered on a 5-point Likert scale, from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.81.

Insecurities about appearance

Three questions assessed insecurities about appearance: (1) During sexual activity, I worry about how my body looks to my partner; (2) I could only feel comfortable enough to have sex if it were dark so that my partner could not clearly see my body; and (3) The first time I have sex with a new partner, I worry that my partner will get turned off by seeing my body without any clothes on. Each item was answered on a 6-point Likert scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.81.

Enjoyment of intimate acts during sex with a partner

Three questions assessed enjoyment of intimate acts during sex: (a) I enjoy cuddling with my sexual partner; (2) I like kissing during sex; and (3) I like to take time caressing my sexual partner’s body. Each item was answered on a 6-point Likert scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.75.

Procedure

This project was part of a collaborative, multisite study of culture and sexual behavior that took place across four university campuses in the United States: two in the Northeast, one in the Southeast, and one in the mid-South. All participating university Institutional Review Boards approved the project. Participants were recruited from spring 2011 to spring 2012 through email, flyers, or other announcements. Recruitment materials specified the study purpose was to understand sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, that participation involved answering a series of questionnaires that asked about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, including sexual behaviors, that some of the questions included sexually explicit language that could be offensive (including names of body parts or sexual activities), and that all responses would be recorded anonymously. Participants were directed to an online survey posted on SurveyMonkey; each recruitment site had a unique link. Participants first provided consent, and then confirmed their eligibility before completing the survey. Participation took ∼30 minutes. Following survey completion, participants were given an opportunity to enter into a raffle to win one of three cash prizes (one $100 and two $60 prizes were randomly awarded).

Analytic approach

Descriptive statistics were utilized to provide base rate data on frequency of pornography use. Means and SDs for all continuous variables were computed (Table 2). Skewness and kurtosis statistics and histograms were examined for assumptions of normality. Bivariate scatter plots were used to examine assumptions of linearity. Because the vast majority of participants reported pornography use not for masturbation and pornography use while having sex with a partner as occurring less than once per year or never, we excluded these variables from further analyses and focused instead on just the item assessing pornography use for masturbation.

Before hypothesis testing, we evaluated the measurement model using a confirmatory factor analysis. Hypotheses were then tested with two structural equation models using maximum likelihood estimation that employed one exogenous measured variable (frequency of use for masturbation) and three endogenous factors (thoughts of pornography in relation to and during sexual activity, enjoyment of intimate acts during sex, and insecurities about appearance). A second model included five exogenous covariates (age, white race, religiosity, committed relationship status, and age at first exposure to pornography). All exogenous variables were allowed to co-vary. Because chi square is often significant with large sample sizes and complex models,⁵² good model fit was determined to be present if the chi square to degrees of freedom ratio was <3, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) was >0.95, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was <0.05.⁵³ To compare the relative performance of non-nested models, the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was utilized. Smaller AIC values indicate better model fit.⁵⁴ Analyses were completed with SPSS version 21 and AMOS version 18.

Results

Current pornography use

Table 2 shows descriptive statistics regarding participants’ use of pornography. Most participants had some previous exposure to pornography; one-third of participants were first exposed to pornography before the age of 13. Few participants reported having never encountered pornographic images before. Participants were asked about their current use of pornography for masturbation. Of the 591 participants who responded to the question, nearly half (43.5%) reported at least some pornography use for masturbation. Among participants who did use pornography to masturbate, the modal frequency of pornography use for masturbation was a few times per month. By far, the most common media source participants used to access pornography was the Internet.

We explored how demographic variables related to frequency of pornography use for masturbation. Age, race/ethnicity, and committed relationship status were not significantly associated with frequency of pornography use for masturbation. Only religiosity was significantly and negatively associated with pornography use for masturbation (r = −0.143, p < 0.001, N = 589). We also examined how frequency of pornography use for masturbation related to the primary outcome variables; bivariate correlations for these associations are presented in Table 3.

Confirmation factor analysis

Before assessing study hypotheses, we evaluated the measurement of our latent variables using confirmatory factor analysis. The overall model fit the data well, χ²/df ratio = 2.34, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, and 90% confidence interval for RMSEA = 0.03–0.06. All items loaded significantly onto their factors (p < 0.001). Descriptive statistics for the manifest variables and standardized loadings onto their respective factors are presented in Table 4.

Overall model fit

Before assessing individual hypotheses, we assessed the fit of the overall model. The model provided an adequate fit to the data, χ²/df ratio = 3.13, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, 90% confidence interval for RMSEA = 0.04–0.07, and AIC = 167.39 (Fig. 1). Inclusion of demographic covariates in our model also suggested good model fit, although not as good as the simple model without covariates, χ²/df ratio = 2.56, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04, 90% confidence interval for RMSEA = 0.04–0.06, and AIC = 305.55 (Fig. 2).

H1: Increased Thoughts of Pornography During Sex with a Partner

We were interested in seeing whether pornography use for masturbation was associated with thoughts of pornography during sex with a partner, either as intrusive/purposeful thoughts about pornography during sex to obtain or maintain excitement or as a stated preference for pornography over sex with a partner. Our first hypothesis was supported. There was a significant positive association between pornography use for masturbation and the thoughts of pornography during sex factor (Fig. 1). A similar path coefficient was observed when we included demographic covariates (Fig. 2). Of the covariates, older current age and younger age at first exposure to pornography were associated with greater thoughts of pornography in relation to or during sexual activity with a partner.

H2: Increased Insecurities About Appearance During Sex with a Partner

Our second hypothesis asked if there was an association between pornography use for masturbation and insecurity about one’s body during sexual activity. Contrary to our second hypothesis, there was no significant association between pornography use for masturbation and appearance insecurities in our structural model (Fig. 1). Even when including demographic covariates, the path remained nonsignificant (Fig. 2). Of the covariates, being in a committed relationship was significantly associated with lower insecurities about appearance.

H3: Lower Self-Reported Enjoyment of Intimate Acts During Sex with a Partner

Participants answered questions assessing the degree to which they enjoyed intimate behaviors with their sexual partners, such as cuddling, kissing, and caressing. Contrary to our third hypothesis, there was no significant association between pornography use for masturbation and self-reported enjoyment of intimate behaviors (Fig. 1). This did not change with the inclusion of demographic covariates (Fig. 2). Of the covariates, being in a committed relationship was significantly (positively) associated with self-reported enjoyment of sexually intimate behaviors.

Post hoc model modification

A Lagrange multiplier test indicated the fit of the first model (Fig. 1) would be improved significantly by adding paths from the thoughts of pornography factor to both the insecurities about appearance and enjoyment of intimate acts during sex factors. This appeared theoretically justified because activation of pornographic thoughts and internally generated (pornographic) images while engaging in sexual interactions with a partner might pull someone away from a focus on the “here and now” of sexual interaction, resulting in lower attention to the sexual partner and potentially enhancing the salience of body types and sexual behavior modeled in pornography as referents in self-appraisal and partner appraisal. In fact, Meana and Nunnink⁵⁵ find cognitions during sex can activate appearance-based concerns and interfere with sexual enjoyment in women. We therefore considered a final model that examined whether thoughts of pornography in relation to or during sex mediated the relations between pornography use and both insecurities about appearance and intimate acts during sex (Fig. 3). The overall model fit the data well, χ²/df ratio = 3.53, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.06, 90% confidence interval for RMSEA = 0.05–0.07, and AIC = 157.35. Pornography use for masturbation remained a significant predictor of the thoughts of pornography factor only. The test of mediation using bootstrapping analyses revealed that thoughts of pornography in relation to or during sexual activity (mean indirect [unstandardized] effect = −0.02, standard error [SE] = 0.01, 95% confidence interval [−0.041 to −0.004], and standardized path coefficient = −0.06) mediated the link between pornography use for masturbation and the intimacy factor. In addition, the thoughts of pornography factor (mean indirect [unstandardized] effect = 0.04, SE = 0.02, 95% confidence interval [0.011–0.077], and standardized path coefficient = 0.08) mediated the link between pornography use for masturbation and the insecurities factor. This post hoc mediation model was superior to the direct effects model, Δχ² = 17.61, Δdf = 2, p < 0.001, ΔAIC = 10.04.⁵⁶

Discussion

Review of findings and implications

Young men and women are turning to the internet with greater frequency to access and engage with sexual information. Like other studies,^57,58 we found high rates of early exposure to pornography, nearly all of which came from online sources. By the time they entered college, most (83%) women in our study had seen pornography, primarily online. However, our study indicates higher rates of exposure at a young age than found in previous research. For example, in 2008, Sabina et al. found 9.2% of girls experienced exposure to pornography before the age of 13; we found a larger percentage of our respondents (24.7%) had such early exposure.⁵⁸ This likely speaks to the growing size and scope of the modern, online pornography industry⁵⁹ and the ease with which pornography is now accessible through the internet.

Although a majority of women in this study had been exposed to pornography before, only 43.5% reported current consumption for masturbation. Of those currently using pornography for masturbation, the most frequently endorsed category for frequency of use was once a month or less. The majority of respondents (56.5%) reported never using pornography for such sexual purposes. Only 0.7% of the women in our study reported daily or near-daily consumption. Young women seem to follow two divergent pathways in almost the same proportions: either they incorporate pornography into their sexual practice, although relatively infrequently, or they avoid consumption after early encounters.

Even with relatively lower rates of consumption among women in comparison to men, the pornographic script does play a role in women’s subjective experiences of sexual encounters with a partner. Women with higher rates of viewing pornography were more likely to experience thoughts about pornography during sex with a partner, rely on those thoughts to obtain or maintain excitement, or report a preference for pornography over sex with a partner (H1). Women who experienced exposure to pornography at younger ages, when they are less likely to have acquired alternative sexual scripts or to have had sexual experiences with a partner to disrupt or challenge the power of the pornographic sexual script, were more likely to report thoughts about pornography during sexual activity with a partner.

Contrary to our hypotheses, we did not find a direct link between pornography consumption for masturbation and an increase in the experience of appearance insecurity (H2) nor did we find a direct link between pornography consumption for masturbation and lower enjoyment of intimate acts during sex with a partner (H3). However, and interestingly, post hoc model modifications indicated that women’s pornography use for masturbation did correlate to increased insecurities about their appearance and to diminished enjoyment of intimate acts during sex by increased thoughts of pornography during sexual activity. In other words, pornography use for women is associated with increased thoughts of pornography during sexual encounters, and pornography thoughts, but not pornography use in and of itself, is associated with increased appearance insecurity and decreased enjoyment of intimate acts during sex. Why might this be the case? Why might thoughts of pornography in relation to or during sexual activity with a partner mediate the relationship between pornography consumption and the experience of appearance insecurity and intimacy for women?

Drawing on sexual scripts theory, we surmise that the sexual scripts in pornography may interfere with heuristic activation for women. According to Wright,³³ sexual scripts must be activated in the mind before they can have an effect on behavior. Moderators of activation can include audience factors such as age and/or gender as well as situational factors such as sexual arousal or script-situation correspondence.¹⁵ The high rates of violence and degradation in most commercial pornography, which overwhelmingly target women,⁴ may disrupt the salience of the script for women as it potentially creates dissonance between the script-situation correspondence for female consumers. Thus, this dissonance may create a barrier to activation for women that is not present for men. While men may readily see themselves as subjects within a script designed and depicted for their pleasure, female consumers may have to learn to accept themselves as targets of violence/aggression in order for the script to become active in their sexual scripts. In other words, because the script may be discordant with her own bodily experience, a woman may have to do a bit of systemic (conscious) processing as opposed to heuristic (quick and without deliberation) processing before activating the script. This finding is consistent with other research that finds demographic, that is, age,¹⁵ or other individual differences¹³ can mediate the relationship between sexual scripts and the individual.

In this context, the pornographic sexual script may be more easily activated by men resulting in a more unified and direct relationship between pornographic viewing and men’s dyadic sexual behavior and a more complex and mediated relationship for women. In a previous study,⁵⁰ we found men’s pornography use directly and positively related to thoughts of pornography and directly and negatively to enjoyment of intimacy. In other words, men who have higher rates of pornography use experience less intimacy, regardless of activation of the pornographic sexual script during sexual activity. Furthermore, men who consume pornography at higher rates experience more need for pornography to maintain arousal, no matter their experiences with intimacy. There was no relationship between pornography consumption and feelings of self-confidence or insecurities about appearance among men.

However, in this study, we found that heterosexual women’s thoughts about pornography mediated the role the pornographic sexual script played in their sexual experiences. Women must deliberately activate and show preference for the script as opposed to merely viewing it, as is the case for men, in order for it to play a role in women’s dyadic sexual experiences. Those women who activated pornographic script during their sexual life with a heterosexual partner experienced less intimacy and lower confidence in their appearance. While the script-situation discordance between women’s bodily experiences and the violence and degradation found in most pornography may initially be protective, once women come to rely on that sexual script, our data indicate that they experience similar or greater diminished effects as men. Like men, they experience less intimacy in their dyadic sexual relationships. In addition, they also experienced increased insecurities about their bodies during sexual relationships with a partner.

Finally, being in a committed relationship may have some protective role in increasing intimate acts during sex and reducing insecurities about appearance directly, but even after controlling for being in committed relationships, higher thoughts of pornography for sexual pleasure were associated with lower intimacy enjoyment and greater appearance insecurity with partners. While our data cannot establish the direction of these relationships, our data suggest that, at a minimum, the pornographic script, when activated, does not help women become more confident with or connected to their male partners. Taken as a whole, this may suggest that high-frequency female consumers are having “worse” (more insecure and less intimate) sex than their lower-frequency counterparts. Pornography consumption, particularly high-frequency consumption, does not appear to indicate increased confidence and intimacy in women’s sexual experiences with a male partner.

Limitations

While our current study contributes to an understanding of pornography and young women’s sexuality in dyadic relationships, its findings should be interpreted with the study’s limitations in mind. Importantly, as the mediating role of pornography thoughts was discovered through post hoc model modification and analysis, it remains a hypothesis to be tested. More research is needed that seeks to replicate these findings and explore these associations. Furthermore, our sample had the limitation of homogeneity (mostly white college students in the south). Wright’s ₃AM model posits that demographic variables such as race, class, and sexual orientation can mediate or moderate acquisition, activation, and/or application process. More research, particularly qualitative data, is needed to understand these diverse processes. We assumed, given we screened for only heterosexual women, that responses to sexual behavior questions involved sexual activity with a male partner, but our questions were worded in a gender-neutral manner. Therefore, it is possible that women who identified as heterosexual may have nevertheless been reporting on sexual behavior that occurred with other women. Future studies should use more gendered language or ask respondents to indicate the gender identities of sexual partners.

Pornography consumption may be better measured not only by frequency (e.g., how often on average) and intensity (e.g., how many hours per week on average) but also by most current rates of use (e.g., in the past month or the past year). Furthermore, the content of pornography consumed may have a significant impact on the ₃AM processes.⁴³ Moderators of the ₃AM processes include intensity of the images. It could be that more intense images such as violence or degradation of women that characterize much of modern commercial pornography are associated with diminished feelings of intimacy and enjoyment rather than frequency. Research, which asks women about the types of pornography most viewed and the type of images recalled during sexual relations with a partner, is needed to explore the nuances of this relationship. We also did not define pornography for our participants; their personal definitions may have thus been highly variable. Future studies that include definitions would be important.⁶⁰ Future studies might want to assess pornography thoughts using different questions that better differentiate content, or examine these associations only in women who report some pornography use, however minimal.

Beyond the demographic and measurement limitations, several other limitations related to attitudes and behavior call for more research. First, our research did not include attitudinal measures that might help explain individual motivations for the divergent pathways young women take in relation to pornography. What marks the differences in the individual processes of acquisition, activation, and application that speak to the different trajectories of pornography use among women? How do factors such as early sexual encounters, experience of sexual violence or trauma, and views on gender and sexuality relate to their pornography consumption? Again, more research is needed.

Conclusion

We find that pornography plays a complex and indirect role in women’s sexual experiences. While young heterosexual men’s relationships with pornographic material are direct, such that simply viewing that material is associated with diminished sexual intimacy and satisfaction, heterosexual women must come to embrace and rely on the material in order for the script to relate to her subjective sexual experiences. Consequently, health care providers and educators should be equally attentive of the role of pornography in the lives of both heterosexual men and women, although in different ways. While simply asking men if and how much they view pornography may provide insight into the role pornography plays in their lives, for heterosexual women, more nuanced questions related to the ways in which the pornographic sexual script is activated in their thoughts and feelings are needed to understand pornography’s role in their sexual, emotional, and relational health.

References

1. Cooper A. Sexuality and the internet: Surfing into the new millennium. Cyberpsychol Behav 1998;1:187–193. Link, Google Scholar

2. Herbenick D, Bowling J, Fu T-CJ, Dodge B, Guerra-Reyes L, Sanders S. Sexual diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men. PLoS One 2017;12:e0181198. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

3. Wright PJ, Bae S, Funk M. United States women and pornography through four decades: Exposure, attitudes, behaviors, individual differences. Arch Sex Behav 2013;42:1131–1144. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

4. Bridges AJ, Wosnitzer R, Scharrer E, Sun C, Liberman R. Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: A content analysis update. Violence Against Women 2010;16:1065–1085. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

5. Rosen RC, Bachmann GA. Sexual well-being, happiness, and satisfaction, in women: The case for a new conceptual paradigm. J Sex Marital Ther 2008;34:291–297; discussion 298–307. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

6. Barron M, Kimmel M. Sexual violence in three pornographic media: Toward a sociological explanation. J Sex Res 2000;37:161–168. Crossref, Google Scholar

7. Klaassen MJE, Peter J. Gender (in)equality in internet pornography: A content analysis of popular pornographic internet videos. J Sex Res 2015;52:721–735. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

8. Brown JD, L’Engle KL. X-Rated: Sexual attitudes and behaviors associated with U.S. early adolescents’ exposure to sexually explicit media. Commun Res 2009;36:129–151. Crossref, Google Scholar

9. Wright PJ, Arroyo A. Internet pornography and U.S. women’s sexual behavior: Results from a national sample. Mass Commun Soc 2013;16:617–638. Crossref, Google Scholar

10. Tomaszewska P, Krahé B. Predictors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration among Polish university students: A longitudinal study. Arch Sex Behav 2018;47:493–505. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

11. Sinković M, Stulhofer A, Božić J. Revisiting the association between pornography use and risky sexual behaviors: The role of early exposure to pornography and sexual sensation seeking. J Sex Res 2013;50:633–641. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

12. Hald GM, Malamuth NM, Yuen C. Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: Revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies. Aggress Behav 2010;36:14–20. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

13. Malamuth NM, Addison T, Koss MP. Pornography and sexual aggression: Are there reliable effects and can we understand them? Annu Rev Sex Res 2000;11:26–91. Medline, Google Scholar

14. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS, Kraus A. A meta-analysis of pornography consumption and actual acts of sexual aggression in general population studies. J Commun 2016;66:183–205. Crossref, Google Scholar

15. Wright PJ, Bae S. A national prospective study of pornography consumption and gendered attitudes toward women. Sex Cult 2015;19:444–463. Crossref, Google Scholar

16. Hald GM, Malamuth NM. Self-perceived effects of pornography consumption. Arch Sex Behav 2008;37:614–625. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

17. McKee A. The aesthetics of pornography: The insights of consumers. Continuum 2006;20:523–539. Crossref, Google Scholar

18. Brown JD, L’Engle KL, Pardun CJ, Guo G, Kenneavy K, Jackson C. Sexy media matter: Exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines predicts black and white adolescents’ sexual behavior. Pediatrics 2006;117:1018–1027. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

19. Ciclitira K. Pornography, women and feminism: Between pleasure and politics. Sexualities 2004;7:281–301. Crossref, Google Scholar

20. Johansson T, Hammaré N. Hegemonic masculinity and pornography: Young people’s attitudes toward and relations to pornography. J Mens Stud 2007;15:57–70. Crossref, Google Scholar

21. Weinberg MS, Williams CJ, Kleiner S, Irizarry Y. Pornography, normalization, and empowerment. Arch Sex Behav 2010;39:1389–1401. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

22. Shaw SM. Men’s leisure and women’s lives: The impact of pornography on women. Leis Stud 1999;18:197–212. Crossref, Google Scholar

23. Eck BA. Men are much harder: Gendered viewing of nude images. Gend Soc 2003;17:691–710. Crossref, Google Scholar

24. Lofgren-Mårtenson L, Månsson S-A. Lust, love, and life: A qualitative study of Swedish adolescents’ perceptions and experiences with pornography. J Sex Res 2010;47:568–579. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

25. Stewart DN, Szymanski DM. Young adult women’s reports of their male romantic partner’s pornography use as a correlate of their self-esteem, relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction. Sex Roles 2012;67:257–271. Crossref, Google Scholar

26. Peter J, Valkenburg PM. Does exposure to sexually explicit internet material increase body dissatisfaction? A longitudinal study. Comput Hum Behav 2014;36:297–307. Crossref, Google Scholar

27. Bergner RM, Bridges AJ. The significance of heavy pornography involvement for romantic partners: Research and clinical implications. J Sex Marital Ther 2002;28:193–206. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

28. Zitzman ST, Butler MH. Wives’ experience of husbands’ pornography use and concomitant deception as an attachment threat in the adult pair-bond relationship. Sex Addict Compulsivity 2009;16:210–240. Crossref, Google Scholar

29. Szymanski DM, Feltman CE, Dunn TL. Male partners’ perceived pornography use and women’s relational and psychological health: The roles of trust, attitudes, and investment. Sex Roles 2015;73:187–199. Crossref, Google Scholar

30. Carroll JS, Busby DM, Willoughby BJ, Brown CC. The porn gap: Differences in men’s and women’s pornography patterns in couple relationships. J Couple Relation Ther 2017;16:146–163. Crossref, Google Scholar

31. Willoughby BJ, Carroll JS, Busby DM, Brown CC. Differences in pornography use among couples: Associations with satisfaction, stability, and relationship processes. Arch Sex Behav 2016;45:145–158. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

32. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS, Kraus A, Klann E. Pornography consumption and satisfaction: A meta-analysis: pornography and satisfaction. Hum Commun Res 2017;43:315–343. Crossref, Google Scholar

33. Wright PJ. Mass media effects on youth sexual behavior assessing the claim for causality. Ann Int Commun Assoc 2011;35:343–385. Crossref, Google Scholar

34. Huesmann LR. Psychological processes promoting the relation between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior by the viewer. J Soc Issues 1986;42:125–139. Crossref, Google Scholar

35. Simon W, Gagnon JH. Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Arch Sex Behav 1986;15:97–120. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

36. Frith H, Kitzinger C. Reformulating sexual script theory: Developing a discursive psychology of sexual negotiation. Theory Psychol 2001;11:209–232. Crossref, Google Scholar

37. Rubin AM, Windahl S. The uses and dependency model of mass communication. Crit Stud Mass Commun 1986;3:184–199. Crossref, Google Scholar

38. Bandura A. Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annu Rev Psychol 2001;52:1–26. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

39. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS. Linking pornography consumption to support for adolescents’ access to birth control: Cumulative results from multiple cross-sectional and longitudinal national surveys. Int J Sex Health 2018;30:111–123. Crossref, Google Scholar

40. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS. Pornography consumption, sexual liberalism, and support for abortion in the United States: Aggregate results from two national panel studies. Media Psychol 2018;21:75–92. Crossref, Google Scholar

41. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS, Bae S. More than a dalliance? Pornography consumption and extramarital sex attitudes among married U.S. adults. Psychol Pop Media Cult 2014;3:97–109. Crossref, Google Scholar

42. Braithwaite SR, Coulson G, Keddington K, Fincham FD. The influence of pornography on sexual scripts and hooking up among emerging adults in college. Arch Sex Behav 2015;44:111–123. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

43. Bridges AJ, Sun CF, Ezzell MB, Johnson J. Sexual scripts and the sexual behavior of men and women who use pornography. Sex Media Soc 2016;2:237462381666827. Google Scholar

44. Wright PJ, Sun C, Steffen N. Pornography consumption, perceptions of pornography as sexual information, and condom use. J Sex Marital Ther 2018;1–6 DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2018.1462278 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

45. Wright PJ. A longitudinal analysis of US adults’ pornography exposure: Sexual socialization, selective exposure, and the moderating role of unhappiness. J Media Psychol 2012;24:67–76. Crossref, Google Scholar

46. Peter J, Valkenburg PM. Adolescents’ exposure to sexually explicit internet material and sexual preoccupancy: A three-wave panel study. Media Psychol 2008;11:207–234. Crossref, Google Scholar

47. Tsitsika A, Critselis E, Kormas G, Konstantoulaki E, Constantopoulos A, Kafetzis D. Adolescent pornographic internet site use: A multivariate regression analysis of the predictive factors of use and psychosocial implications. Cyberpsychol Behav 2009;12:545–550. Link, Google Scholar

48. Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ, Harrington K, Davies S, Hook EW, Oh MK. Exposure to X-rated movies and adolescents’ sexual and contraceptive-related attitudes and behaviors. Pediatrics 2001;107:1116–1119. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

49. Wright PJ, Randall AK. Internet pornography exposure and risky sexual behavior among adult males in the United States. Comput Human Behav 2012;28:1410–1416. Crossref, Google Scholar

50. Sun C, Bridges A, Johnson JA, Ezzell MB. Pornography and the male sexual script: An analysis of consumption and sexual relations. Arch Sex Behav 2016;45:983–994. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

51. Report of the APA Task Force on the sexualization of girls. Available at: www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report Accessed February 7, 2019. Google Scholar

52. Ullman JB, Bentler PM. Structural equation modeling. In: Weiner I, ed. Handbook of psychology, second edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012;661–690. DOI:10.1002/9781118133880.hop202023 Crossref, Google Scholar

53. Browne MW, Cudeck R. Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Soc Methods Res 1992;21:230–258. Crossref, Google Scholar

54. Weston R, Gore PA. A brief guide to structural equation modeling. Couns Psychol 2006;34:719–751. Crossref, Google Scholar

55. Meana M, Nunnink SE. Gender differences in the content of cognitive distraction during sex. J Sex Res 2006;43:59–67. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

56. Burnham KP, Anderson DR. Model selection and multimodel inference: A practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002. Available at: www.springer.com/us/book/9780387953649 Accessed February 7, 2019. Google Scholar

57. Boies SC. University students’ uses of and reactions to online sexual information and entertainment: Links to online and offline sexual behaviour. Can J Hum Sex 2002;11:77–89. Google Scholar

58. Sabina C, Wolak J, Finkelhor D. The nature and dynamics of internet pornography exposure for youth. Cyberpsychol Behav 2008;11:691–693. Link, Google Scholar

59. Johnson JA. To catch a curious clicker: A social network analysis of the online pornography industry. In Boyle K. (ed.): Everyday pornography. New York: Routledge, 2010:147–163. Google Scholar

60. Willoughby BJ, Busby DM. In the eye of the beholder: Exploring variations in the perceptions of pornography. J Sex Res 2016;53:678–688. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar