Shaping Sexual Behaviors & Sexual Scripts
Does Pornography Misinform Consumers? The Association between Pornography Use and Porn-Congruent Sexual Health Beliefs.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
Pornography may contribute to sexual health illiteracy due to its often fantastical and unrealistic depictions of sex. This cross-sectional study investigated whether pornography use was associated with holding porn-congruent sexual health beliefs among a sample of 276 Australian and Singaporean university students (Mage = 23.03, SDage = 7.06, 67.9% female, 47.8% Australian). The majority of participants (95.5% of males and 58.9% of females) reported viewing pornography in the past six months. Perceived realism of pornography and prior sexual experience were tested as potential moderators of the relationship between pornography use frequency and sexual health beliefs. Pornography use frequency showed no zero-order association with sexual health beliefs in the overall sample (although a significant zero-order association was observed among female participants). However, a significant positive association between porn use and porn-congruent sexual health beliefs was found in the overall sample, after controlling for demographic variables. Neither perceived realism nor sexual experience were found to act as moderators. Interestingly, prior sexual experience showed a significant zero-order association with sexual health beliefs, such that prior sexual experience was associated with holding porn-congruent beliefs. Perceived realism was unrelated to porn-congruent sexual health beliefs. The study provides some preliminary support for pornography having a misinformation effect on the sexual health knowledge of consumers.
Relevance
Porn-congruent sexual health beliefs include the willingness to have casual sex (‘hooking up’) without using a condom, willingness to have sex with strangers, valuing a large penis, removing all public hair, having group sex, engaging in BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Domination/Submission, Sadism/Masochism), and the like.
This study found “tentative support for the notion that pornography misinforms consumers regarding sexual health..The findings of the current study do not support pornography having a positive influence on sexual health knowledge.”
Citation
Miller, D. J., & Stubbings-Laverty, R. (2022). Does Pornography Misinform Consumers? The Association between Pornography Use and Porn-Congruent Sexual Health Beliefs. Sexes, 3(4), 578-592. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes3040042
