Violence
Motivations for Pornography Use and Hypergender Ideologies: The Mediating Role of Content Theme and the Moderating Role of Perceived Realism and Gender.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
Objectives: This cross-sectional study investigated the relationships between motivations for pornography consumption and adherence to hypergender ideologies, defined as hypermasculinity and hyperfemininity, while examining the roles of gender, pornography content type, and perceived realism.
Methods: An online convenience sample of 596 adults, aged 18 to 62 years, completed an online questionnaire assessing motivations for pornography use, hypergender ideologies, perceived realism of pornography, and preference for affection-themed, dominance-themed, and violence-themed pornography. Correlational analyses and mediation and moderation models were conducted using bootstrapping procedures.
Results: Pornography use motivations, including emotional avoidance, sexual curiosity, sensation seeking, and sexual pleasure, were significantly and positively associated with hypergender attitudes. Gender did not moderate most associations between motivations for pornography consumption and hypergender ideologies. For all but sexual curiosity and emotional-avoidance, perceived realism significantly moderated the relationship between pornography consumption motivation and hypergender attitudes. Mediation analyses showed that dominance-themed and violence-themed pornography consistently mediated the associations between pornography use motivations and hypergender attitudes, while affection-themed pornography did not serve as a significant mediator.
Conclusions: The results suggest that higher motivation to consume pornography may be associated with more adherence to hypergender ideologies, and this association is stronger when perceived realism is higher. These findings also indicate that motivations for pornography consumption may be associated with hypergender ideologies alongside greater engagement with content emphasizing dominance and violence. These findings highlight the importance of considering perceived realism, content type, and use motivations in understanding how pornography consumption relates to extreme gender role beliefs and have implications for sexual health education and clinical practice.
Relevance
“Overall, the findings suggest that pornography-related motivations are more strongly associated with hypergender ideologies when individuals perceive pornography as realistic.” But while the motivations to use pornography were “positively associated with hypergender attitudes,” the “mediation effects varied by pornography content theme.” So-called “affection-themed pornography did not reliably mediate the relationships” but “dominance-themed and violence-themed pornography consistently mediated the associations” between motivations to use pornography and hypergender attitudes. “This pattern suggests that motivations for pornography use may be associated with hypergender attitudes primarily alongside greater engagement with content emphasizing dominance and violence, but not affectionate themes.”
The findings suggest that clinicians may “benefit from routinely assessing notonly the frequency or motivations for pornography use, but also how literally clients interpret its content as representative of real sexual relationships….challenging the assumed realism of pornographic scripts may help reduce their perceived relevance for real-life relationships.” Furthermore, the findings suggest that clinicians “working with issues related to intimacy, sexual functioning, hostility toward partners, or gender-role rigidity may thus consider exploring the thematic content of pornography use as part of broader discussions about relational issues.”
Citation
Hreniuc, L. I., & Turliuc, M. N. (2026). Motivations for Pornography Use and Hypergender Ideologies: The Mediating Role of Content Theme and the Moderating Role of Perceived Realism and Gender. International Journal of Sexual Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2026.2669283
