Attitudinal Effects of Degrading Themes and Sexual Explicitness in Video Materials

Abstract

This study examined the independent and interactive effects of sexual explicitness and degrading themes toward women on mens' attitudes following exposure to video presentations of male-female interactions. Subjects were 83 male college students who viewed video vignettes under one of four stimulus conditions: (a) sexually explicit/degrading, (b) sexually explicit/nondegrading, (c) nonexplicit/degrading, and (d) nonexplicit/nondegrading. Results revealed that men exposed to degrading material, regardless of explicitness, were significantly more likely to express attitudes supportive of rape, while explicitness had no significant main or interactive effect on these attitudes. Further, the interaction of explicitness with degradation was found to impact scores on a measure of sexual callousness. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Fraternity Membership, the Display of Degrading Sexual Images of Women, and Rape Myth Acceptance

“…Polaschek and Ward (2002) found that the sexual objectification of women was a common attitude among rapists. In a review of research on pornography effects it was concluded that the amount of degradation in pornography is an important predictor of its effects on attitudes supportive of rape (e.g., Golde, Strassberg, Turner, & Lowe, 2000). Some feminist theorists have proposed that pornography degrades women, which leads them to be seen as legitimate victims of SA (e.g., Brownmiller, 1975;Dworkin & MacKinnon, 1988;Sheffield, 1987), and French (1992) argued that even mild pornography degrades women and teaches people to see women through a "distorted, deforming lens" (p. 166).…”

Free Adult Internet Web Sites: How Prevalent Are Degrading Acts?

“…Many have argued that pornographic material routinely portrays women as sexual objects who enjoy being humiliated and degraded [17]. Golde et al [20] explored how degrading but non-sexually explicit material, compared to material that contained degrading and sexually explicit content, shaped viewers' perceptions. Golde et al [20] argued that sexual explicitness alone does not contribute to the development of negative attitudes toward women instead it is the inclusion of degrading acts in pornographic material that is problematic.…”

“…Brownmiller [4] and MacKinnon and Dworkin [25] and others have argued that pornography is violence against women. Much work has been devoted to the study of violence as well as any impact that pornography may have on influencing negative attitudes and beliefs toward women [14,18,20,26]. Many have argued that pornographic material routinely portrays women as sexual objects who enjoy being humiliated and degraded [17].…”

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“…Similarly, the more pornography individuals reported viewing, the higher their sexual aggres sion levels were (Malamuth et al, 2000). After degrading pornography exposure, men reported beliefs that sex with women creates masculine domination and female submission (Golde et al, 2000). The previous research shows a strong link between aggressive beliefs and pornography, but not necessarily aggressive actions.…”

“…One such negative consequence frequently cited is the link between pornography use and par ticipants' aggressive attitudes (Golde et al, 2000;Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000) and actions (Simmons, Lehmann, & CollierTension, 2008). Researchers found an increase in sexually aggres sive attitudes and behaviors followed pornography exposure.…”