This current study analyzes the content of popular pornographic videos, with the objectives of updating depictions of aggression, degradation, and sexual practices and comparing the study's results to previous content analysis studies. Findings indicate high levels of aggression in pornography in both verbal and physical forms. Of the 304 scenes analyzed, 88.2% contained physical aggression, principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. Perpetrators of aggression were usually male, whereas targets of aggression were overwhelmingly female. Targets most often showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression.

Pornography has become a primary source of sexual education. At the same time, mainstream commercial pornography has coalesced around a relatively homogenous script involving violence and female degradation. Yet, little work has been done exploring the associations between pornography and dyadic sexual encounters: What role does pornography play inside real-world sexual encounters between a man and a woman? Cognitive script theory argues media scripts create a readily accessible heuristic model for decision-making. The more a user watches a particular media script, the more embedded those codes of behavior become in their worldview and the more likely they are to use those scripts to act upon real life experiences. We argue pornography creates a sexual script that then guides sexual experiences. To test this, we surveyed 487 college men (ages 18-29 years) in the United States to compare their rate of pornography use with sexual preferences and concerns. Results showed the more pornography a man watches, the more likely he was to use it during sex, request particular pornographic sex acts of his partner, deliberately conjure images of pornography during sex to maintain arousal, and have concerns over his own sexual performance and body image. Further, higher pornography use was negatively associated with enjoying sexually intimate behaviors with a partner. We conclude that pornography provides a powerful heuristic model which is implicated in men's expectations and behaviors during sexual encounters.

Pornography is a lucrative business. Increasingly, women have participated in both its production, direction, and consumption. This study investigated how the content in popular pornographic videos created by female directors differs from that of their male counterparts. We conducted a quantitative analysis of 122 randomly selected scenes from 44 top‐renting adult videos in 2005 (half male‐ and half female‐directed). Findings revealed that all films shared similar depictions: Verbal and physical aggression was common, women were the primary targets of aggression, and negative responses to aggression were extremely rare. Compared to male‐directed films, female‐directed films were significantly more likely to portray women‐only scenes and sexual acts. Even when controlling for main characters' gender, female‐directed films showed significantly more female perpetrators aggressing against female targets and significantly more depictions of women as perpetrators of aggression. We highlight the importance of economic forces, rather than director gender, in dictating the content of popular pornography.

Using data collected from 1,880 heterosexual men and women residing in the United States, this study investigated the associations among gender, pornography consumption, and 20 sexual behaviors observed in popular pornography. Acts were grouped according to whether participants reported engaging or being interested in trying specific sexual behaviors as the (a) aggressor (e.g., hairpulling, spanking, or choking), (b) target (e.g., being spanked or choked), or (c) uncommon and/or degrading sexual activity (e.g., male ejaculation in female partner's mouth, anal sex, double penetration, and ass-to-mouth). Using sexual script theory, we hypothesized greater use of pornography would be associated with greater likelihood of both having engaged in and interest in engaging in these sexual behaviors. We further hypothesized gender differences consistent with pornographic sexual scripts that frequently portray men as aggressors and women as targets of aggression. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed significant main effects for gender and pornography use on the three categories of sexual behavior but no significant interactions. Higher pornography use was associated with greater likelihood of both engaging and being interested in trying all categories of sexual behavior. Men were more likely than women to have engaged in aggressive and degrading/uncommon behaviors, and women were more likely than men to have engaged in target behaviors. However, men were more interested than women in trying all three categories of sexual behavior. Results provide partial support for sexual script theory; while higher pornography use increased interest and prior engagement in pornography-like sexual behavior, the increases in types of sexual behavior (aggressor, target, or uncommon/degrading) were not moderated by gender.

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