Exploring the Relationships Between Pornography Consumption, Relationship Satisfaction, Relationship Beliefs, and Masculinity

Pornography is widely available and consumed in the United States and worldwide. Despite pornography’s wide spread use and expansions since the advent of the Internet, the psychosocial problems related to its use are not fully delineated. Previous studies have explored the relationship between pornography consumption and psychosocial variables such as sexual and physical violence against women, misogynistic beliefs, sexual callousness, acceptance of rape myths, and other problematic sexual beliefs and behaviors. Fewer studies have explored pornography use and its impact on relationship variables such as relationship satisfaction and beliefs about relational constructs such as intimacy, passion, and equality/independence. Furthermore, there are limited studies on how pornography consumption relates to constructs such as masculinity and body satisfaction among male users. The current study aimed to explore the relationship between these constructs, as well as further delineate pornography consumption by examining frequency, duration, method, subgenre, and perceived harm. One hundred fifty-six males were recruited from various northeastern universities and through online advertisements. Results demonstrated a significant negative relationship between pornography consumption and relationship satisfaction. Alternatively, body dissatisfaction and masculinity did not relate to pornography use or relationship satisfaction. Exploratory analysis indicated that pornography consumption was not related to perceived harm or opinions about intimacy, passion, or equality/independence. Research and clinical implications of the findings and future directions are discussed

From Playboy to Prison: When Pornography Use Becomes a Crime

This study explores pornography use across the lifespan for a sample of registrants convicted of child pornography related offenses. We conducted qualitative life history interviews with nine offenders to examine how offender, victim, and situational factors interact to produce pornography related criminal events. Using a hybrid analytic approach, themes related to persistence in pornography use and the social acceptability of pornography are identified. These themes relate to transitions from legal pornography use to illegal child pornography possession

Examining the Link Between Sexually Explicit Media use and Sexual Risk Behavior Among Adolescents and Young Adults

The current study examined the link between sexually explicit media use and the different forms of sexual risk-taking among emerging adults. The study focused on emerging adults aged 18 -- 25 years. This is a critical stage for sexual risk-taking which has not been adequately investigated by prior studies. Using online data collected from 146 American based young adults (45.1% female; 74.6% European American, 9.7% Asian /Asian American, 6.7% Black/African American, 0.7% Native American and 8.2% Multiethnic, mean age = 22.89 years), sexually explicit media use was analyzed in connection with sexual risk-taking variables (i.e., multiple sexual partners, condom use and high risk sexual behavior). Bivariate analyses revealed no significant correlations between sexually explicit media use and the three different forms of sexual risk-taking. Consistent with the study\u27s second hypothesis, males reported higher levels of sexually explicit media use and higher levels of high risk sexual behavior than the females. In addition, regression analysis revealed that sexually explicit media use was significantly associated with a person\u27s number of sexual partners as well as their engagement in high risk sexual behavior. The findings of the current study are a reflection of inconsistent findings in the existing literature and evidence that the link between sexually explicit media use and sexual risk-taking might not be as direct as assumed

The Influence of Pornography Consumption, Religiosity, and Family Sexual Communication on Emerging Adults\u27 Engagement in Hookup Culture in the United States

Purpose The primary purpose of the current research was to understand the influence of considerable social-cultural factors, including pornography consumption, religiosity, and family sexual communication, on the sexual values and behaviors of the emerging adult population. Particularly, how pornography consumption, religiosity, and family sexual communication influence emerging adult engagement in hookup culture was examined. Method Participants completed several surveys, which measured participants’ pornography consumption, personal religiosity, family sexual communication, and engagement in hookup culture. A path analysis model was used to analyze the relationship between the proposed variables. Results The path analysis model indicated that the initial model was a poor fit for the data. The model, therefore, was revised based on the modification indices. The revised model was found to be a good fit to the data. The revised model indicated that family sexual communication and pornography consumption had positive, direct effects on hookup engagement. The model also showed that religiosity had a negative, direct effect on hookup engagement, while family sexual communication had a positive correlation with pornography consumption and a direct effect on religiosity. Altogether, the model accounted for 6% of the variance in hookup engagement and 5% of the variance in religiosity. Conclusion The present study contributed to the body of literature by providing a degree of understanding into the sexual behaviors of the emerging adult population, specifically college students. The results of the study indicated that parental sexual communication serves as an important factor in the development of sexual behaviors, attitudes, and self-conception. Hookup culture is a pervasive phenomenon with numerous contributing factors that present potential risks to emerging adult populations. Mental health professionals must take the knowledge gained from the present research and assist parents, educators, and other helping professionals in becoming competent sexual communicators, as well as to assist clients in making safe, sexually healthy decisions

Sex Industry and Sex Workers in Nevada

Las Vegas has long been known as the symbolic center of the commercial sex industry. Nevada is host to the only legal system of prostitution in the United States. From the early legalization of quickie divorce and marriage to the marketing of its large resorts, sexuality has been a key component of Nevada’s tourist economy. If trends continue, for good or for ill, the sex industry will be an even larger part of the economy in the future. The sex industry refers to all legal and illegal adult businesses that sell sexual products, sexual services, sexual fantasies, and actual sexual contact for profit in the commercial marketplace. The sex industry encompasses an exceedingly wide range of formal and informal, legal and illegal businesses, as well as a wide range of individuals who work in and around the industry. This report will review the context in which sexually oriented commercial enterprises have flourished, discuss general trends in the Nevada sex industry, and make policy recommendations

“Relationship Connectivity” Counts:Lifetime Relationships, Family Structure, andRisk-Taking in Adulthood

The impacts of interpersonal relationships (in childhood and in early adulthood) on risk-taking behavior of young adults were the focus of this research. Data from the 2012 New Family Structures Survey (using a subset of 2,917 young adults aged 18-39), disaggregated by whether the respondents grew up in conventional or unconventional households, were augmented with eight interviews with health and counseling professionals. Healthy early family relationships and current romantic relationships offered the best protections against adult risk-taking behavior, irrespective of family household structure. On the other hand, a healthy parent-child relationship in adulthood and bullying victimization in childhood were both linked to increased risk-taking in later years, but only if raised in unconventional families. These findings contributed to the empirical literature on the consequences of healthy relationships, with natal families, peers, and partners, for positive life decisions and partly illuminated Agnew’s Strain and Aker’s Social Control Theories. Exploring a fuller range of unconventional family structures, a broader variety of risk-taking behaviors, and whether said behaviors turn into addictions will better highlight the long-term consequences of relationship connectivity for adult risk-taking

A Nation Scared: Children, Sex and the Denial of Humanity

Review of the monograph:Klaus Grütjen, Lokale Selbstverwaltung im Spannungsfeld von afrikanischer Tradition und europäischer Moderne: Dezentralisierung und Dekonzentration in den frankophonen Staaten Westafrikas am Beispiel Burkina Fasos, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Recht in Afrika, 3), 2011, ISBN 978-3-89645-623-6 (hardcover), XXXVIII + 822 pp.Besprechung der Monographie:Klaus Grütjen, Lokale Selbstverwaltung im Spannungsfeld von afrikanischer Tradition und europäischer Moderne: Dezentralisierung und Dekonzentration in den frankophonen Staaten Westafrikas am Beispiel Burkina Fasos, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Recht in Afrika, 3), 2011, ISBN 978-3-89645-623-6 (hardcover), XXXVIII + 822 Seite

The Breeding of Wolves: Understanding the Escalation Continuum & Escalation Dynamics of Contemporary Sex Trafficking Demand

This quantitative, quasi-longitudinal research was conducted to empirically examine if sex-demand buyer behavior of heterosexual males is causational based on commonplace societal and transgenerational influences. These causational influences are termed “escalation dynamics,” which can lay on a ranged scale from adolescent development through adulthood, termed an “escalation continuum.” This research aimed to research how and why a heterosexual male becomes a sex buyer from different influences over a developmental time frame. Participants had to meet the criteria of being a heterosexual male, having been arrested for sex-demand buying, and currently participating or having completed the Sex Buyers Transformation and Restoration (STAR) Program. The 67-question My Sex Life Survey was completed online by 56 respondents. The results indicated a correlation between developmental influences, i.e., escalation dynamics, such as hegemonic masculinity, traditional male roles, internet pornography, strip clubs, and beliefs leading to the objectification of prostituted females. The research showed multiple significant inferences on sex-demand buyer behavior concerning negative heterosexual male influences from adolescents to adulthood. Furthermore, the results showed and exposed a range of sex-demand buyers as being more or less hegemonic in their masculinity traits, suggesting that men who suffer more significant strain suffer greater symptoms of hegemonic masculinity